In My Heart
by I'm-an-angry-baby
Summary: A different world. A love all consuming, filled with many questions, and those who wish to destroy her new family quickly after it's become whole. What can she do? How can she save those she holds dear? Strictly Bella/Jacob HEA
1. Chapter 1

**In My Heart**

 **Chapter One**

Maybe I should start by introducing myself before I get into the crazy story of my life once I moved back to my hometown of Forks, Washington. It can be hard to keep up with at times so this is probably the best time to explain myself.

My name is Isabella Marie Swan, but everyone calls me Bella or 'Bells' like my dad, Charlie. I'm sixteen years old and I've lived the majority of my adolescents in sunny Phoenix, Arizona with my mom, Renee, and her new husband, Phil. I didn't have very many friends. Most of the kids there thought I was an oddball for my strange sense of humor and the fact that I was unable to tan. I'm not sure why, but no matter how much time I spent in the sun, my alabaster complexion didn't darken the slightest bit.

School is a no brained for me, but I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do afterwards.

Right after the first semester of my sophomore year ended, I made the decision to move back to Forks to be with Charlie. This would give Renee the freedom to travel with Phil and I hoped it would be more interesting than anticipated, but I had no idea how much of an adventure it would be or how permanent of a stay it would be.

My story starts a week after my arrival in Forks. I had been welcomed my first day by Charlie and his best friends, Billy Black and Harry Clearwater. I remembered Billy and Harry from my childhood vaguely, but it was nice to have some people happy to see me. Billy and Harry had said they would have brought their kids to see me, but they were off doing their own thing. Billy's daughters who were a few years older than me, Rebecca and Rachel, had left the year before and his son, Jacob, was the same age as me. I didn't really remember him very well. I had latched myself onto Rachel and Rebecca as a little kid even though they were older than me. Harry's kids, Seth and Leah, had their own things going on. Leah was spending the day with some guy she had been dating for a while and Seth was being tutor in math. Leah was a year older than me and Seth was two years younger.

In school, I had actually made some friends. It was a little weird that most of the people who were hanging around with me were guys who were constantly asking me out. No guy had ever shown an interest with the exception of one that I didn't even want to _think_ about, let alone ones that had no idea about who I was other than my name and that I was new. Angela Weber was a really nice girl as was Jessica Stanley. Lauren Mallory just hung around because Jessica was her best friend. Michael Newton and Eric Yorkie had become thorns in my side along with Tyler Crowley.

Angela guilted me into going on a trip after school to First Beach in La Push. Everyone was going surfing instead of myself and Angela. Sports was never my forte and Angela was more of a book worm. It was our job to make a bonfire.

I got picked up at my house after school by Mike and everyone was already piled in his van. He raced off to the beach which took a few minutes. I enjoyed a nice, light conversation with Angela as everyone else talked amongst themselves.

I sat in the sliding door of the van with Angela as the others got on their suits.

"Is that a new book?" Angela asked in her sweet voice with a tilt of her glasses and I nodded, showing her the cover of my little book.

"Yeah. I picked it up at a Half Price bookstore before I moved out here. Today is the first chance I will have to read some." Angela's eyes widened, I wasn't sure why though.

"I didn't think you were into reading that stuff?" I was really perplexed by this statement that sounded more like a question.

"What stuff? It's a romance novel." Angela giggled and shook her head.

"It's not romance. It's erotica. Carly Phillips is a sex novelist." I was disgusted and pushed the book away.

"Ew! What person would even want to write or read about that?" Angela rolled her eyes at me before pulling off her jacket, showing the long sleeved, purple thermal she was wearing.

"You're sixteen. You figure that one out." Angela teased and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sixteen, like you said. Those kind of things aren't even on my mind." Angela frowned and I wasn't sure why.

"It's not wrong for someone who is sixteen to think about those things, Bella." Now, I got it. I felt terrible. My only real friend in Forks and I made her feel like crap because she probably wasn't a virgin.

"Have you done _that_ before?" I asked as the other walked away and she nodded.

"I've been in a steady relationship for two years. What do you think?" Her smile returned and I relaxed.

"With who? It's not Eric, is it?" I was grossed out by the thought of Angela and Eric together. They didn't fit right together, but Eric was always trying to hang on her and acted a little like she was his girlfriend, with the exception of when he asked me out.

"God, no! I'd rather shoot myself." I laughed as she said this and I took off my jacket, wearing a black thermal like hers. We climbed out of the van and started to walk towards the surf. "My boyfriend's name is Embry. He lives on the reservation here." I thought it was pretty far to live from your boyfriend, if he lived ten miles away, but they made it work somehow if they were still together after two years. Most high school romances don't last more than a couple months.

I wouldn't know. I had never been in a relationship myself.

"Is he older or younger?" I inquired as she smirked.

"He's our age. All of his friends are except for Leah and Sam. They are seniors." I was surprised by the name. La Push wasn't a big reservation, probably only two hundred people living there. Could there possible be more than one Leah?

"Do you mean Leah Clearwater?" Angela's eyes widened as she laughed.

"Do you know her?"

"Charlie and Harry, her dad, are friends. I haven't seen her since I was little, though." Angela and I started to gather some driftwood. We laid it all strategically so the fire wouldn't wander from the small pit.

"Oh, I need to call Embry." She beamed and I shook her head with a smile on my face. I was happy she was so in love with this boy. I wished I could find someone I could get that kind of crazy over, but I doubted it would happen. I wasn't one of those girls who became like a lovesick puppy over some guy.

Angela pulled out her phone as I found a couple more pieces of wood.

"Hey, baby." She smiled as I guessed her boyfriend answered the phone. "We are at the beach. Everyone is in the water except for me and _Bella_. She's keeping me company and we are building a bonfire right now." I wasn't sure why she said my name like that, but maybe I was just hearing things. "Okay. Love you." She hung up the phone and smiled brightly. "Him and his friends are heading over here." I nodded, unsure why she was acting like she was hinting at something.

"Cool." We continued to chat at we struggled to light the drift wood on fire. After a while, I saw five people approaching from the corner of my eye and I looked up as Angela did the same. To one side was a man and a woman, walking hand in hand together. The girl had shoulder length hair and flawless Native American features and the man's hair was the same length as hers. They looked like the perfect couple in my eyes. Next to them was a boy with short hair then two with hair as long as mine.

It was the boy on the very end who caught my eye. His smile was heavenly. It sparkled and reached up to his eyes. His black, straight hair glisten in the withering sunlight and his skin had a slight shimmer to it. His russet skin was such a perfect shade, different from the others.

My heart sped as I saw this body and quickly looked away. How could I possibly have this sudden physical attraction and instantaneous connection to this handsome stranger who I had yet to even utter a single word to? It was bordering on unnatural.

I watched as the other man with long hair ran over with a big smile and scooped Angela up his his welcoming embrace. She shrieked with amazement as he kissed her happily. It was almost embarrassing to watch. This had to be Embry.

"Baby, put me down!" Angela protested and he sat her down before giving her a sweet kiss.

"Hey, gorgeous." She giggled before looking to me.

"Bella, this is Embry." Angela gave a quick introduction and I sent Embry a small wave as he flashed a bright smile.

"Hey, how you doing?" My southern accent stood out as I said this and his smile brightened.

"Hey, Bella. It's nice to meet you." I stuck my hands nervously in my pockets as I fought the urge to look at the boy that had caught my eye before. I was never a girl who gawked at s boy no matter how handsome he was. Why was this boy so different? "This Sam and Leah." Embry pointed out the couple and I gave them a kind smile. Leah released herself from Sam and gave me a big hug. I was not expecting this nor was anyone else for that matter.

"Welcome back, Bella." Her words were so heartfelt, they brought a smile to my face.

"Thanks, Leah." She released the hug and Embry looked at us perplexed.

"You two know each other?" Leah rolled her eyes with a huff.

"Of course. Everyone knows Bella Swan." I blushed and slightly bowed my head in embarrassment. "She was a frequent visitor to the reservation when we were little kids." I didn't expect Leah to remember me. I didn't really remember her all that much, but the warm yet not overzealous welcoming was much appreciated. Leah turned to the other two who had yet to have their introductions done. "Bella, this is Quil and Jacob." I got up the nerve to look up at the boy with the sunny smile along with the short haired boy and sent them a small, shy wave. I was sure my face had to be as red as a tomato from how nervous I was. The boy she pointed out as being Jacob gave a nice, big smile with a glimmer of appreciation in his eyes while Quil gave a sly smirk.

"I'm Quil Atera." She just introduced you and you had to spouted off your first and last name? Yup, you are an idiot. The others laughed at this kid's idiocy as Angela rolled her eyes.

"Quil, she ain't interested." Quil's eyebrow lifted in challenge of what Angela said.

"Does she have a boyfriend or something?" He asked. This kid had no shame whatsoever. Angela just got done telling him that I wasn't interested and he was here asking if I had a boyfriend as if I wasn't standing right there.

Suddenly, Tyler ran out of the water and jogged over to us.

"Sorry, boys, but this is my girl." He kissed my cheek and ran off to the van as I grimaced in disgust. Angela laughed before she spoke up in my defense.

"No boyfriend, but a bunch of guys from our school who can't grasp that…" she turned in the direction of the van and yelled. "SHE'S NOT INTERESTED!" I heard Tyler laughed as did everyone else standing around. I nervously bit my lip as Angela turned back around.

"That was very helpful." I muttered sarcastically and she gave a big smile.

"Hey! I am here to make sure them stop treating you like their shiny new toy." I nodded with a small smile as I noticed that Jacob was staring at me with that sunny smile of his. God, why did he have to be so cute? I gave him a shy smirk in return as Angela grabbed my arm. "Come on. Those boys are probably going to try to get us all wet once they get out. Let's put up our phones and grab our jackets." I nodded and followed her away from the crowd.

I was probably as flush as could be and I reached up to touch my cheek, feeling how inflamed it is.

"I saw how you were looking at Jacob." Angela nudged my shoulder with hers and I bit my lip.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Bella, I'm no fool. You could barely even look at him and, when you did, you started blushing. You think he's cute, don't you?" I shrugged a little and she laughed. "Aw!" Her arms hugged around my shoulders as she giggled in my ear. "Who would have thought? Bella Swan and Jacob Black?" My heart jumped as I realized what she had said.

Jacob, this Jacob which had me so nervous, was Billy's son. He did have some of Billy's features, but I wouldn't have guessed that he was the same Jacob that I grew up around.

I looked over my shoulder and saw he was staring in my direction while the others were chatting around him.

I quickly looked back as we got to the van. Angela and I threw on our jackets and put our phones down in the van. We closed the sliding door and slowly started to stroll back to the crowd who had now relocated to our bonfire pit that we still hadn't been able to get lit.

"Just so you know. I can tell Jake thinks you're cute, too. He doesn't get all goo-goo eyes and smiles for just anyone." I blushed as she said this and we made it back to the pit.

"Struggling to get it lit?" Jacob asked Angela and she nodded.

"Not everyone can be a pyromaniac like you, Jake." She teased him and he rolled his eyes.

"Please. I am not a fire bug just because I know how to light a bonfire." He extended his hand to Angela with an amused smirk. "Just give me your damn lighter and I'll have this thing lit in a jiffy." She handed him over the zippo she carried. He pulled out some paper from his back pocket and lit it with the lighter. He leaned next to the pit and shoved the paper under all the wood. This confused me. Why wouldn't he just light the lighter fluid we poured on the wood. This was just strange.

"Why are you doing it like that?" I asked softly and he chuckled before standing up, dusting the sand off his pants.

"You want it to burn up instead of down. Burning up makes the flame last longer and you don't have to worry about the wind or rain putting it out. Plus, when it starts going out, you can just throw more wood on it." Now, it made sense. No wonder he put it under the wood.

"Oh." Angela skipped off toward Embry and flung herself at him. I couldn't believe the display those two were putting on in front of everyone. "They always like that?" I asked and he glanced at them before grimacing.

"Sadly, yes. You get used to it after a while. I've been dealing with it for two years." I giggled before looking up at him from under my lashes.

"You poor thing." He chuckled. God, that brilliant white smile. I didn't know anyone who had such a pearly white smile such as his. I wondered if he had his teeth whitened.

"Just some friendly advice. I wouldn't be alone with those two. It can get pretty awkward." I flushed as he said this. I really hoped I never had to see those two in a compromising position. Jacob probably had if Angela and Embry had been together for two years.

"That bad, huh?" He made a disgusted face and I couldn't help, but laugh.

"Sometimes they forget others are around. I'll put it that way." I could see that. Their public display seemed a little over the top.

"I will make sure to keep that in mind." His smile brightened a little. It was just enough to make my knees weak.

"Charlie is your dad, right?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yup, that's right."

"You don't remember me, do you?" Nope!

"I don't really remember much from when I lived in Forks. I was only five when me and my mom left." I justified my fogged memory.

"Right. You used to hang out with me and my sister's at my house during the summer." I pretended I didn't know this, but I had already connected the dots. I knew exactly who he was.

"Oh, yeah. I remember. Billy is your dad, right?" He nodded with a bigger smile. I blushed as he did this. God, why couldn't I control the heat of my cheeks?

"Yup, that's right. You latched onto my sisters more so than me."

"Rachel and Rebecca, right?" He nodded happily.

"Yeah, Rachel went off to college last year in New York and Rebecca got married and moved to Hawaii." I nodded in response.

"Yeah, your dad mentioned that when he came by the house after I arrived." We talked for a while about different things. I found out he was a car nut and had rebuilt his own car. I never heard of anyone else who was sixteen that had this kind of dedication. He had to love his car to put that kind of time and energy into it, instead of saving his money for it.

Turns out, him and Embry were best friends and had been since the age of three when Stacey Call became friends with Jacob's mom, Sarah Black. The mention of his mother sent a pang through my heart. She was one person I remembered vividly. She was kind, caring, and generous. She had a fatal car accident right before me and my mom left Forks.

I don't know what I would do if my mom died suddenly like that.

"Hey, do you want to go for a walk? It's starting to get a little crowded." I giggled as he proposed this. I really liked talking to him. It was easy and carefree which was something I wasn't very used to. I'd only been able to hold an easy conversation like this with my mom and even that was embarrassing at times.

"Sure, yeah." He smiled big and we started to stroll down the beach. I caught Angela wink at me and I blushed as Jacob and I walked around a log. "How has your dad been?" I asked casually.

"He's good. He's been busy a lot with tribal business." He answered rather quickly with a level voice.

"What does he do with his 'tribal business'?" I teased a little with my voice and he chuckled.

"He's the head of the council which is really kind of like the government of the reservation, I guess. When I was little, they used to host a bunch of bonfires for the families of the council members where they would tell our legends." I looked to him with a tilt of my head.

"Legends?" I had heard about Native American legends, but I hadn't ever heard any myself. I was curious.

"Yeah. Dad calls them our histories, but they are just scary stories to tell around a fire. You'd really see a show at Second Beach on Halloween. My dad tells the story of origin of the council bloodlines and some seniors from the reservation school act it out as he tells it. It's really cool to watch." This was absolutely fascinating.

"Wow. That would be great to see. What is that story?" I inquired and he chortled lightheartedly.

"We aren't supposed to say anything about it unless it's among tribal members." This was downright suspicious.

"Why?" He shrugged as I flirtatiously glanced up at him from under my lashes.

"Don't know. My dad thinks our legends should remain secret." I snickered and clutched onto his arm.

"Come on. What harm could it do? Tell me, Jake." He flashed me a big smile before he caved.

"Alright, alright." He cleared his throat as I listened closely. "Okay, did my dad ever mention to you how our tribe is supposed to be descended from _wolves_?" He sported a mischievous grin as I gasped.

"What? Wolves? Like _real_ wolves?" He nodded happily.

"Yup. That's the legend of our tribe." I nodded for him to continue, clutching his arm tight, and he smirked. "A long time ago, our tribe had a Chief named Taha Aki." He started off slow and seemed to lean more towards me. "Back then, our tribe had a very strange ability. We could go into what my dad calls 'spirit warrior mode' where we could leave our bodies and speak to those in the spirit world for guidance and ask for help scaring away threats to our tribe as a whole." This was very interesting and I was listening very intently. "Taha Aki went into spirit warrior mode to seek guidance of the Great Spirit and he was warned that a great evil with dark plans was lurching within the tribe. He was told he had to hurry back to his body before it was too late to stop this evil. It was already too late, though." His features sombered.

"When he arrived at his body, he witnessed one of his most trusted advisors slaughter Taha Aki's body then light him on fire." I gasped as Jacob said this.

"Oh, my god." He was a really good story teller. I wondered if it was something he inherited from Billy.

"Taha Aki quickly realized that this was the evil the Great Spirit spoke to him about, but it was too late for him to do anything about it. His body was gone and he could never rejoin it. He was now stuck in limbo. He couldn't move on while stuck in spirit warrior mode so all he could do is sit around and watch the devastation that struck the tribe in his absence.

"His advisor who betrayed him took over as chief and made a lot of bad changes for the tribe, claiming it was what he thought Taha Aki would want. Taha Aki's son didn't believe the new chief for a second. Though the new chief had banned the others from going into spirit warrior mode, he needed know if these changes were something his father would have wanted. As soon as he went into spirit warrior mode, Taha Aki told his son the truth of what had happened to him and that it was dangerous to be there with the false chief watching. Taha Aki's son tried to rush back to his body, but it was too late. The false chief had strangled him while he was in spirit warrior mode.

"He knew Taha Aki's son would know the truth and he couldn't risk him telling everyone what he had done." Wow. This story was really good.

"What did Taha Aki do?" He could see that I was very interested and it brought a big smile to his face.

"There was nothing he could do." I rolled my eyes at this.

"What kind of a story ends that way?" He snickered before rubbing my hand.

"I never said the story was over." _Yay!_ "Taka Aki and his son ventured far from the tribe, knowing that any efforts they made the save the tribe would have catastrophic repercussions. They traveled for weeks until they came across a wolf that was much bigger than the average wolf. It was the size of a horse instead of a dog. This wolf could sense them there and it seemed too wise to be an animal.

"Taha Aki spoke to the wolf, but got no words back. He told the wolf about the issues at home and asked for his assistance. Though the animal did not speak, they felt his answer. The wolf offered for them to use his body to save the tribe from the evil false chief that was leading them into the ground." I was confused by this.

"Use his body?" Jacob nodded with a smirk.

"The wolf allowed Taha Aki passage into his body to control as his own. As a means to help, his son decided to stay out of the wolf, though he was also invited in. Taha Aki as the wolf ran back to the tribe. He wasn't sure how the wolf would be able to help him save his tribe, but he knew he had to try.

"When he arrived, the hunters of the village tried to hunt him down for they had never seen a wolf so massive. Taha Aki wasn't usually full of anger, but he was towards the villagers who were relentlessly pursuing him." I was practically on the edge of my seat for the story.

"What did he do?" I asked this question again and Jake had a devious smirk across his face.

"Let me tell the story, will ya?" I blushed as he looked at me with a goofy grin. "There was nothing for Taha Aki to do. His son, on the other hand, had an idea. Taha Aki had no control of his anger. His son knew that there was no way to get their people to see the truth unless he calmed down and he could not tell the wolf this with his father in charge of the wolf's body. Taha Aki's son made a split second decision to jump into the wolf's body to deliver this message to his father.

"The power of the wolf, Taha Aki's strong anger, and his son's calming, wise words to his father together caused all three to fuse together irrevocably." I gasped as he said this. I couldn't come up with this stuff no matter how overactive my imagination was.

"Fused?" He nodded.

"The wolf turned into the form of a man that looked like Taha Aki, had the intimidating presence of his son, and sported the power of the great wolf. He was taller with a much stronger frame, but everyone in the tribe recognized the man they saw before them.

"Their chief had come home and saved them from the terror of the rule of their false chief. The false chief was banned from Quileute lands and was bound to never enter his spirit warrior mode ever again." I had chills and they were good chills.

"Wow. You are pretty good at telling scary stories." He chuckled happily.

"Thanks. I try." He shrugged nonchalantly. When we noticed the darkness coming, we started to make our way back to the bonfire. "Why did you decide to move back to Forks?" He asked curiously.

"Well, my mom got remarried about four months ago." His eyes widened as I said this before he frowned.

"The guy an ass or something?" I quickly shook my head. I would never describe Phil as 'an ass'.

"No, nothing like that. Phil's actually really cool. He just travels a lot for work. My mom said she would stay home with me, but I knew it would make her sad to be away from him for so long so I volunteered to move back up here for a while." I realized I was still latched onto his arm and released myself nervously, fidgeting with the zipper on my jacket. I was so embarrassed that I had been clinging to him like that. He must have thought I was an idiot for doing that.

"What does he do?" He asked, seeming a little sad about something, but I didn't pry into what it was.

"He's a minor league baseball player." Jacob threw his head back laughing at this, his teeth glimmering in the twilight, but I didn't see what was so funny. "Why are you laughing?" He rolled his eyes.

"Just imagining someone our parent's age playing professional baseball. It's hilarious." I rolled my eyes at this.

"He isn't our parent's age." His eyes widened and his jaw slacked.

"What?" I nodded.

"Yup. He's only in his late twenties. You can say it. My mom is a cougar."

"Cougar, my ass. She's a damn cradle robber." I laughed at what he said and found myself clinging to his arm again, giggling into the sleeve of his jacket.

"I guess, you're right." He feigned hurt.

"I will have you know I am always right." I rolled my eyes and nudged his shoulder with mine, releasing my grip on his arm.

"Sure, sure. Like I believe that." He snickered as we made it back to the bonfire. Mike ran up to us, out of his wet suit and back into his regular clothes, as Angela and Embry strolled over, his arm slung over her shoulder.

"Bella, it's getting dark so we are going to head back. You ready?" I frowned as he said this. I really didn't want to leave, but I had no other way to get home. I didn't have a car and, even if I did, I didn't bring it with me.

"Actually…" Angela started as her and Embry stopped next to Mike. "My mom is supposed to be picking me up in two hours. Bella, if you want to stay a little while longer, you can come with us. It's up to you." She shrugged as if it was no big deal, but I could see in her eyes that she knew I wanted to stay because of Jacob.

"I think I'll hang out a little while longer. Thanks anyways, Mike." I tried to come off as being polite, but I'm sure my voice just sounded rushed. I felt a little bad because Mike kept saying how he wanted us to hang out a little while at the beach, but I had been clinging to Jacob the whole time. Granted, I didn't actually _want_ to hang out with Mike, but he seemed sad about it. "I need to grab my stuff out of the van though. I'll be back in a sec." I started to walk towards the van and Angela was quickly by my side.

"Where did you and Jake run off to?" She probed and I blushed.

"Nowhere. We just went for a walk. We were just talking." I justified our absence, but really, there was no reason we couldn't have hung out at the bonfire with everyone else.

"Aw! You guys didn't escape just to make out away from prying eyes?" Angela teased and I flushed. The thought of kissing Jacob was nice, but I wasn't expecting it. I was ridiculously plain and Jake was just so wonderful on what I could tell so far.

"No!" I protested in horror of her thinking I was some slut for wanting to kiss him after just meeting him a few hours ago.

"Don't worry. I won't tell him that you want to suck his face." She teased me again. "He really likes you. I can tell." I just rolled my eyes. Why would Jake like some plain girl like me? I was nothing special.

"What would make you think that?" She giggled and started walking backwards for some unknown reason.

"Because, one, he can't stop staring at you." I flushed more as she said this. "Right now, he is talking with Embry, probably trying to concoct some plan of how to see you after we leave tonight." I refused to believe any of this until I had some tangible proof that her words held water.

"That doesn't mean anything." I shrugged it off and she scoffed.

"I have _never_ seen Jacob like that about any girl and I've known him for two years. Embry has told me on many different occasions that Jake has never shown a single girl interest. I'll be honest. He had a lot of offers, but he just wasn't interested. It was so obvious that he has his eye on you and I wasn't the only one who saw it. Embry, Quil, Leah, and Sam all saw it. They were all wagering how long it was going to take him to ask you out and what your answer would be. I bet that he asks you out before we leave and you say yes." She teased with a lift of her eyebrow and I blushed, grabbing my phone from the van.

"I highly doubt he likes me like that." She rolled her eyes with a huff.

"Why? You two have been attached since he got the bonfire lit. Why don't you think he likes you?" I huffed before motioning to my whole body.

"Look at me. I'm nothing special. I'm simply plain. I highly doubt extraordinarily ordinary is Jacob's type." Her eyes widened as her jaw slacked.

"Are you serious? Do you really not see what everyone else does when you look in the mirror? Why do you think all of the guys at our school hound you when you walk down the hall? You are anything, but ordinary. Also, there is no one ordinary in this world. There is nothing normal about any person no matter how much they look stereotypical from the outside."

"You are very smart, funny, sweet, and you are beautiful, Bella. Jake sees it as does everyone else. You need to learn to see it for yourself." I didn't agree with her, but I nodded as if I did.

I saw Jacob smiling in our direction with that grin reaching up to his onyx eyes, his midnight strands, cascading over his shoulders. I knew my heart was in terrible trouble when it came to this boy, especially if Angela was wrong about him liking me.


	2. Chapter 2

In My Heart

Chapter Two

Jacob, Embry, Angela, and myself ended up walking to the sidewalk, leading away from Forks.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously and Jacob chuckled.

"My house." He pointed out the red house off into the distance. It was like a big red barn. Black shingles covered the roof. The house was equipped with white siding and red paint on the doors and window sills. It was beautiful and simple yet old and worn down looking.

Trees cascaded the perimeter of the house and blocked out the view as we closed in proximity to it. There was a dirt driveway which lead to the front door that had a red wooden porch with a porch swing and three lawn chairs. The driveway then lead to what looked like a large shed a few hundred feet back towards the edge of the woods behind the house.

"Embry's mom doesn't like me so we usually hang out over here or at the beach." Angela explained why we were here instead of somewhere else. It was sad that her boyfriend's mom didn't like her, but at least they had somewhere they could hang out together.

"Billy is okay with you guys hanging out over here?" Angela snickered as she took Embry's hand in hers.

"Okay with it? Billy loves me. He is probably secretly hoping that I dump Embry and start dating Jacob." Her and Jacob looked at each other before laughing and rolling their eyes.

"Yeah, like that would ever happen." Jacob muttered and I giggled to myself. Jacob and Angela definitely didn't seem like two people who would fit together in any scenario other than friends

"Aw, Jake! You just say that because it would squash your hopes of getting into Bella's pants." My jaw slacked as she said this with a big grin on her face.

"Angela!" I protested her saying something like this aloud. I glanced at Jake and he looked thoroughly embarrassed by her accusation. I liked Jacob, but I wouldn't go that far, especially with a boy I just met a couple hours ago.

"Don't 'Angela' me." Jacob shook off his embarrassment and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, you can shut up now." I blushed as he smirked at me and the four of us strolled up the steps of the porch. With a creak of the old wooden door and screen door, the four of us entered the house, welcomed by the sound of a booming tv off to the side. "Dad?" Jake called out and we heard a soft chuckle around the corner.

"In here!" I heard the familiar, deep voice of Billy Black call out to us and Jacob guided us down the hall, past a bunch of door, to where his father's voice was coming from. We found ourselves in a small dining room complete with a kitchen table that looked like only four people could sit there comfortably. Billy sat at the end of the table with a finished TV dinner in front of him as he shoved the last bite in his mouth as if he was a starving man who couldn't wait to get another bite. He sat down his silverware before turning in our direction. "What's up?" He said with a calm, but tired voice. I was so used to seeing Billy as upbeat and happy. I didn't understand how he could be so different.

"Just letting you know I'm here. Do you need help with anything?" Jacob was so helpful to his father. It was nice to see his ailing dad was being taken care of.

Suddenly, Billy broke into a big smile, one that was similar to his son's grin.

"Bella!" I blushed as his eyes zoned in on me and I gave him a shy wave.

"Hey, Billy." He wheeled himself towards us and shook my hand.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curiously and Angela giggled.

"I dragged her here kicking and screaming." Angela joked and I giggled.

"She's kidding. I was just at the beach with some friends from school." I shrugged nonchalantly as Angela giggled.

"Yeah. I conned her into coming out tonight. Just some puppy dog eyes and she was putty." Angela joked around. She was being ridiculous. I found myself scooping at her.

"No, you guilt tripped me by saying you would be bored and lonely if I didn't come because everyone else would be surfing except you. You just left out the fact that you would be alone with the exception of your boyfriend and his friends." Embry laughed aloud as Angela snuggled into his embrace like the love struck teenager she was. It was strange. In the whole week that I had been hanging around Angela at school, she never mentioned she had a boyfriend, but she seemed so in love with him. Most girls our age, when they were dating someone, they would always come up in conversation, but Angela kept those two parts of her life separate. For what reason, I wasn't sure quite yet.

"Angela, are you scheming again?" Billy inquired with a mischievious grin and I thought that look was so funny upon his face. I looked to Jacob and he seemed just as confused as I was by this comment.

"She is always scheming." Embry replied for Angela and she gave a big grin.

"Angela's mom is going to pick her and Bella up in a few hours so we are gonna hang out in the garage for a while." Billy nodded to this statement that didn't seem like Jacob was asking. It was more so like Jacob was just updating his dad on his plans for the evening. It was strange, like he was the parent and not Billy.

Jacob Black seemed responsible beyond his years and I wasn't sure why.

"It was nice to see you, Bella. Wish we could get to see you more often. You should come down next weekend with your dad. We are having a nice little barbecue." I blushed with embarrassment and nodded happily.

"Thanks, Billy. I'll try to keep my schedule open." I joked with him and he smiled as Jacob led us out the back door towards what he called the garage.

From a distance, it looked like a large shed, but in actuality, it was a couple pieces of sheet metal put together with a pair of sheet metal pieces as the doors. Jacob pulled open the door and the soggy dirt held it open as we all strolled in.

I was surprised by the inside of the building we entered. It seemed much bigger from the inside than the outside. There were an array of tools spread across a handmade workbench with a backboard covered with hooks that held a couple of different power tools that I had no idea what they were. Against the wall perpendicular to the workbench, a clothes line hung covered in men's pants, shirts, jackets, and underwear. I blushed as I saw this. Finally, I saw a red car that I couldn't recognize the model, but the faded paint said it was at least a decade or two old. Next to the car was a tarp that was covering something rather large, almost the size of one of those sooped up pickup trucks that men in the country drive.

"What's that?" I pointed to the forest green tarp and Jacob chuckled.

"That's classified." I teased me and I blushed at him, biting my lip a little.

"I see." I muttered as Angela and Embry strolled over to the broken in couch, cuddling together. I gazed at the red car in the garage and realized that Billy couldn't drive. "Is that your car?" I asked Jacob and he flashed a big grin.

"Yes. This is the Rabbit." I nodded my head. It looked like your average car, nothing extraordinary about it poked out to me. What was it about this model that made him want to build it from the ground up? "I have to replace a small part in it so it's out of commission for the next week." I nodded as he said this as I walked around it, surveying the appearance. I glanced inside and the interior was pretty worn. Tears in the leather upholstery, scuffs and scraps across the dashboard, and burns and discoloration marred the floor. What was so special about this car to him? There was nothing I could see. "You should really come take a ride once it's back in working condition." I giggled as he said this and I looked over to him. I glanced behind him and noticed both Angela and Embry was staring at us with knowing looks in their eyes.

"Is it fast?" I teased him. Suddenly, he looked embarrassed and nervous. He seemed to jumble over his words as he scratched at the back of his head.

"Um, ah, it's-uh, it's decent." I laughed as he said this and he joined in before Embry huffed.

"In other words, slow as a damn slug." I giggled as Jacob groaned.

"He has no room to talk since he doesn't even have a car." I shrugged nonchalantly as I strolled back around his car.

"Neither do I. I didn't even have my own in Arizona. It was no big deal though. I just walked everywhere." I stood beside Jacob and listened as him and Embry bickered for a while. It was nice, listening as two lifelong friends argued like two old ladies who headbutted about who remembered what correctly. Every once in a while, Angela threw in a comment, always siding with Embry, and I also made statements how what sounded more realistic. Usually siding with Jacob.

Jacob would looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes and a dashing smile across his face and I would look away, blushing like a shy little girl. I was very nervous and I wasn't sure if I actually liked how he was making me feel or not. Maybe he was doing it on purpose and maybe it was all by accident. I wasn't quite sure.

There were a lot of things about Jacob that made me curious, perplexed, and pensive, but a lot also was exciting, different, and almost supernaturally unreal.

I listened as Jacob and Embry reminisced about cliff diving, jumping off a hundred foot cliff into the black, deep waters off of Second Beach, the beach of La Push meant mostly for those who resided there or came to visit, and their hysterical, ridiculous adventure as adolescents, just two kids being carefree and reckless like anyone else would be at that age.

Except for me. I was never reckless and hardly ever carefree. Before Renee and Phil got together, she was irresponsible, careless, and often selfish about her actions. There were times when I wasn't sure we would have enough food to get through the month. Once I became a preteen, I took over our finances. She worked for the money and I budgeted it out properly. She was legally the parent so she did have the final say, but she mostly went by my recommendations. Along with that, I also kept the house clean and cooked since Renee even burned water. How someone could burn water, I had no idea.

After some time, Jacob and Embry were chatting over by his car while me and Angela were on the broken in couch, talking together. It wasn't about anything specific or note worthy. I would have much rather be talking to Jake, but I wasn't one to interrupt a conversation and they seemed pretty engrossed by they discussion. It was as if they didn't even notice anyone else around. I wondered for a moment if they suffered from ADD due to their their focus on some topic about car parts. The vocabulary they spoke was almost a completely different language that I figured you needed a Y chromosome to understand.

"Do they get like that a lot?" I asked Angela quietly as I tilted my head towards the boys who had Jake's hood open, pointing at different parts and speaking mechanic dialect.

"Don't worry about it. It's just boys and their toys." She shrugged it off nonchalantly as if this was something she had grown accustomed to over the years. She probably had. She did mention that she had known Jake since her and Embry first got together. She must have seen them get this engrossed about mechanic before.

"Is it just me or do you have to be a guy to understand that lingo?" Angela laughed at my joke which I thought was odd. No one had ever laughed at my jokes before and actually thought it was funny. It was always just a way of people trying to make me not feel like an idiot, but it had the exact opposite effect. It made me feel like an outcast.

"Like I said, boys and their toys." I giggled and nodded as I stole a glance at Jacob, seeing his concentrated gaze trained on me. I blushed and gave him a shy smile before averting my eyes down to my palms that were twisting together with nervousness.

"I guess." I whispered to Angela, hoping Jacob couldn't hear me. I hoped that maybe Jacob and I could escape these two who seemed dead on spying on me and Jacob as if they were waiting for us to start making out at random. It was weird, almost as if they had a glance into the future and knew something I didn't know about.

Angela leaned over and quietly whispered in my ear the words, "We will give you and Jake a couple minutes alone." It was like she could read my mind. Was I really this transparent? If I was, could Jake see how badly I wanted to be alone with him or how much I wanted us to continue chatting away like we had back on the beach before we returned to our friends? "Hey, babe. Come on. I got to call my mom and see where exact she is at." Angela jumped up and grabbed Embry's arm, whispering something to him, before dragging him out the door. Both of them chortled in unison as their shadows disappeared into the dark night. Soon, the sound of their voices and footsteps silenced and I looked up to Jacob, seeing his sunny grin directed at me.

I blushed before I stood up, clasping my hands in front of me. Now, we were alone and I was nervous. No words were said for a moment, deafening silence ringing through the air, before he chuckled.

"What was that about?" He nodded his head towards the door and I shrugged.

"Hell if I know. I didn't make them run off." He snickered before strolling over to me.

"Yeah, you're not so scary." He teased me and I blushed.

"Is that so?" I replied with a quiet tone before looking at him before behind my eyelashes. I noticed him biting his lip in what seemed to be nervousness.

"Yeah." My heart hammered so hard in my chest I thought for a moment that he might be able to hear it. The closer he got, the harder the muscle pounded away in my chest. My breathing became harder and I had a difficult time controlling it. I bowed my head as I felt my nerves become overwhelming. Here we were, all alone, and I couldn't even find the right words to say. That's it, I was a freak. I was nervous a lot of the time, but it wasn't something I was accustomed to in this situation. I had never been in this place.

I had never met a boy who had my interest, but Jacob did. I couldn't pinpoint what it was about him that had drawn me in, but it was something special and captivating.

"Hey." I heard his low, quiet voice as his hand came up and pressed under my chin, tilting my head up. His hand was on me. Even if just my face, his touch sent electricity through my body with excitement coursing through my veins. I gazed up into his onyx, concentrated eyes as he stared down into mine. I wasn't sure what my eyes said to him, but it must have been what he was looking for. "You don't need to hide." His voice was still quiet as if he was afraid to burst our private little bubble that cocooned us away from outside forces. My breath caught in my throat, her gut clenched, and my hands trembled.

Maybe this was when I would get an admission or denial of any feelings he possessed towards me.

His hands glided from my cheek to my jaw as he stared down at me, appreciation and amazement in his gaze. I wanted to touch in someway, like how he was touching me, but my extremities were frozen with anxiety. His eyes closed for a moment, a shaky breath leaving his lips, before he opened those amazing eyes of his, his teeth running over his lips.

"Bella?" It sounded like a question, but I wasn't sure what he was asking by speaking my name.

"Yes?" I replied quietly and his body relaxed, a small smile gracing his lips, before his eyes drifted shut. His body moved closer to mine, not even a breath between us, and his face bent down. I braced myself, hoping silently that maybe he was going to kiss me. His forehead gingerly touched mine and his nose rubbed against the side of mine. My eyes drifted in response and I slowly craned my head back, giving him better access to my mouth. I hoped this hinted to him what exactly I wanted him to do.

Kiss me, please. I wanted to say aloud, but my voice failed me. I couldn't speak. I could only feel. His hand left my face and I felt his arms move around my waist. As he did this, I placed my palms on his shirt, feeling the soft cotton under my fingers. His breath cascaded across mine and I inhaled the scent that lingered over my features like a cloud of heaven. There was a hint of peppermint in the scent and the smell warmed my whole body.

"Bella…" He said my name again, but this time, I heard the affection in his voice, almost an overwhelming passion within his voice. I was breathing hard at this point.

"Yes?" Kiss me already. His lips hovered over mine and my lips parted with anticipation. I wanted this, I wanted this boy I just met to kiss me. No one had ever kissed me before and I wanted him to be the first to do it.

"Que quowle." He whispered something that I couldn't understand the tongue and I let out a ragged breath. I nodded and felt his bottom lip on mine before his mouth softly pressed to mine.

"Bella!" The sound of my name bursted our little bubble and the loss of contact was wholly. My eyes snapped open and I saw Jacob standing beside his car, avoiding my gaze. He seemed embarrassed and frazzled if anything. Angela waltzed in with a big smile on her face. "Am I interrupting something?" She must have noticed the deafening silence in the air as odd.

"No. You're good." Jacob muttered casually and I nodded at the same time, looking to Angela.

"What's up?" I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. I felt exposed after that intimate moment that had passed between me and Jacob. I was a little upset that Angela had stalled what had happened and I hoped she had caught on to what it was.

That Jacob Black almost kissed me.

I guess, technically, he did kiss me, but it left me bothered. His lips had barely even grazed mine.

"My mom just pulled up. Let's go." I nodded a few times, also an attempted to clear my fogged mind, and looked to Jacob, seeing his eyes barely able to meet mine. He gave me a small smile and I returned it.

"Bye, Jake." I spoke soft and low and a soft chuckle left his lips.

"Bye, Bella. I'll see you around." I walked out the garage and stole a glance back at him, seeing his gaze trained in my direction. Angela grabbed my arm and held her back to me.

"What was that?" She probed and I shook my head.

"Nothing." I denied. I knew it was foolish to get my hopes up that Jake and I might actually kiss, but I had thought it might have been because he didn't like me like that. Not because Angela interrupted us.

"Don't lie. What did I just walk in on?" She pushed even further and I flushed. Something clicked in her head and she gasped. "Did he kiss you?" My mind flickered back on how close he had been, his body almost pressed against mine, his lips barely out of reach, and his arms holding me close.

"No!" I protested, but she could see right through me.

"Yes, he did! Oh, my god!" She hugged her arms around my shoulder and I shrugged her off.

"No, he didn't. He almost did, but you interrupted that." She seemed to shrink a little as we got to her mother's blue car.

"Sorry." She gave Embry a kiss as I looked back at the garage, seeing Jacob standing in the doorway. I wanted to run over to him and finished what had started when we were alone in that garage, but I was too much of a coward.

I wasn't sure how long it would be until I saw him again, but I prayed it wasn't too long.


	3. Chapter 3

**I just wanted to take a moment to thank anyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed this story. I hope everyone has been enjoying this. I also wanted to let you guys know that I won't be jumping from POV's through this whole story, when I get to a certain point, I will switch to third POV.**

 **this story is going to stretch into Jake phasing, the pack, imprinting, the Cullen's will come into it, along with revisiting the story that Jake told her on the beach.**

 **Please, leave me some reviews and remember constructive criticism is welcome. I am autistic so sometimes my ideas don't come across right. Enjoy!**

 **In My Heart**

 **Chapter Three**

"You really haven't heard from him?" Angela questioned me on Monday about what had happened on Friday at the Black house. I had hoped that someway over the rest of the weekend Jacob would somehow pop up, but he didn't. Neither did Billy which was out to the ordinary for Charlie. It was like clockwork that Billy always came over to our house on Sunday to watch the game with Charlie, but he didn't. Charlie had warned me about this ritual, but I hadn't seen it in action yet.

"Why would I? It's not like I offered up my phone number to him." I felt like an idiot for not thinking of that, but I was shy even with Jacob.

"Come on. Your dads are friends. It wouldn't be hard at all for Jake to get a hold of you." This just made me feel worse. Maybe he wasn't as interested in me as I thought, but the way he had almost kissed me said otherwise.

"I guess you're right."

"Embry said he hasn't been able to keep your name out of his mouth. It's been all 'Bella this, Bella that'. It's really annoying to my boyfriend." I blushed as she said this and we strolled out of school. "Well, why haven't you tried to call him?" I huffed at this question as we stopped at the flagpole.

"And what would I say? 'Hey, Jacob. It's Bella, that girl you almost kissed in your garage. I was wondering if you actually like me or if you were just screwing with my head when you tried to kiss me?' No, thank you." Angela giggled and shook her head.

"Trust me, Jake was not trying to fuck with your head. Think about it. He's never been with a girl before. He was probably just nervous and, like you, he's not really sure what to say if he called you." I knew it was possible, but I wasn't sure if I should believe her. I remembered how he pulled away as soon as he heard Angela coming. Was he embarrassed of me? It's not like she was Billy or Charlie. Hell, I wouldn't have cared if she saw him kiss me. I would have just been happy if he had. It would have given me a sense of solidified hope for me and him.

I knew I should want to get to know him better, which I did, but I really wanted him and I wanted him to want me back. As it stood, I didn't feel hopeful. I felt like he planted the seeds in my head for hope, but left me hanging about it.

"Not so sure I should agree with you on that." Angela nudged my shoulder with a sad frown.

"Don't worry. At the very least, you will see him next weekend. Billy did invite you to the barbecue, remember?" This didn't make me feel reassured, but I nodded for her sake. I didn't like to argue about anything.

I saw the police cruiser pull up in front of the school and I groaned. I really hated that I was being picked up and dropped off in that vehicle every day. People stared because of it, almost like they wanted to avoid me like the plague because Charlie was a cop.

"Come on, Bells! Hi, Angela!" Charlie waved and Angela smiled.

"Hey, Chief Swan." Angela gave me a hug before jogging off to where the group we went to the beach with way. I took notice of Mike doing some embarrassing, weird dance where he was shaking his butt in our direction. I got into the cruiser and Charlie laughed.

"Friends of yours?" I nodded with a gulp.

"Yeah, they are good buddies." I replied quickly.

"You know, you can join them and I can pick you up a little later." I shrugged nonchalantly. "You seem to be alone a lot." It was amazing that he was trying to convince me to hang out with my school friends, but I didn't feel like it today or most days really.

"I'm alright with being alone. I guess I'm like you in that way." I gave him a small smile and he chuckled before putting the car in drive.

"I guess there isn't anyone at your school you _especially_ like?" He questioned, but I wasn't sure what exactly he was asking.

"Huh?" He seemed nervous, rubbing the back of his head, as he drove down the street going the speed limit like any respectful cop would.

"Like any boys?" I blushed as he asked this. My mind instantly wandered to Jake, but I wasn't about to tell him that I had a crush on his best friend's son. That would just be awkward as hell. He didn't even know Jake and I had met.

"You really want to talk about boys?" I asked and he groaned.

"I guess not." I still answered his previous question in a way that wasn't really lying and put his mind at ease.

"Not at my school, no." He gave a soft smile and finished the drive home. I was surprised when there was a big red truck parked in front of the house and even more shocked when there were both of the Black men in front of it.

Jake was here! I was excited and nervous at the same time.

Charlie and I got out of the car at the same time and Jacob looked just as excited as me.

"Jake!" I smiled big as he chuckled and strolled over.

"Hey, Bella." I was so happy to see him. I completely forgot that Charlie had no idea that Jake and I had met.

"Hey." Charlie moved over to us with a confused look across his face.

"How did you two…" He trailed off, probably unsure of how to address this.

"Um, when I went to the beach on Friday, Jake and his friends were there." I tried to make it sound unimportant, but it probably came across as rushed.

"Yeah, one of Bella's friends is dating one of my friends." Jacob shrugged it off after mentioning Embry and Angela's relationship.

"Small world, eh?" Charlie joked and Billy laughed as he rolled over to us.

"You can say that again. Imagine my surprise when she came by the house that night." I blushed and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. It was embarrassing talking to our dads about the night me and Jacob met. Just the mention of it reminded me of our almost kiss. Glancing up at Jacob, nervousness filled me. I took in the sunny smile that shined down on me. My heart fluttered in response as I heard a loud 'whoop' come from behind me, followed by an engine.

My head snapped around and I saw Angela in her mom's car, waving at us as she drove down the street. Jake and I waved casually before I looked over at the truck.

"What is with the beast?" I teased as I nodded at the vehicle. It was old, paint chipped off in a couple places, and was probably a late eighties model.

"I bought it off of Billy before I picked you up." I looked to Charlie with confusion.

"Why? You have your cruiser." Jacob snickered before Charlie looked at him amused.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell her." Jake shook his head quickly.

"I kept my mouth shut about it like you asked." I was befuddled by this.

"Tell me what?" I looked back to Charlie and he patted the side of the truck bed.

"It's your welcome home present." I gasped before looking at the truck.

"This?" I was amazed. I never had my own vehicle before and I never thought Charlie would buy one for me. I never expected him to either.

"Yup." I was overly excited.

"Oh, my god." Jacob laughed at my reaction. "I can't believe this. You bought me a truck." I was amazed. I really was happy about this. Now, I wouldn't need to be embarrassed about being dropped off and picked up at school in the police cruiser.

"I figured it would be too embarrassing to be hauled around in the cruiser everywhere." I didn't know how, but Charlie seemed to just get me without me even having to tell him what was going on in my head. "Plus, now, you can go see your friends without needing to depend on someone else." I looked to Charlie with a big smile.

"Thanks, Dad." I wasn't someone who would accept gifts willingly, but this was wonderful and much appreciated.

"The clutch can be a little tricky at first." Billy gave a fair warning as Charlie gave me a one armed hug.

"I can show you how to deal with the beast." Jake offered and I flashed him a happy grin as Charlie chuckled.

"You do that and we will be inside. Have fun, kiddo." I watched as Charlie wheeled Billy into the one story house with ease. Jacob strolled over and handed me the keys.

"Is that what the whole classified comment was about?" He snickered.

"Yeah. Your dad swore me to secrecy." I looked at the truck with amazement. It wasn't glamorous or something special, but it was mine. That was all that mattered.

"Doesn't your dad still need it?" I asked and a sad frown appeared across his face.

"My dad can't drive anymore." I felt terrible that I asked that question. I didn't expect him to look so upset. Then, he smiled again, almost as if he banished the thoughts from his mind. "But, I completely rebuilt the engine. I swapped out all the old parts for new ones so you should be good for as long as you want this as your vehicle." I nodded and gave him an appreciative smirk.

"Thanks." He grabbed my hand and walked me over to the driver's side door. I blushed from the sweet hand holding and gently squeezed his hand. He looked to me with his eyes glimmering with joy and I averted his gaze.

"Come on. We are gonna show you how to drive this thing." I giggled in response.

"I already know how to drive, thank you very much." I feigned hurt and he chuckled as I jumped up into the seat, hanging my legs out the door.

"That may be so, but you don't know how to drive this hunk of-" I quickly jabbed him in the gut, which made him jump, and I spoke.

"Hey, don't hate the truck. It's mine now." He chuckled before rolling his eyes.

"Just because it's yours doesn't change that it's an old hunk of metal. Until, I got a hold of it, it was basically a paperweight." I snickered from him referring to the truck as such a thing. I blushed and he flashed a big smile.

"A little cocky about your skills there, aren't you, Black?" He chuckled, his teeth sparkling from the rare sunlight.

"Your lack of confidence in my mad skills is a little insulting." I nodded as his hand came up and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. In his eyes, I saw the same look on his face before he tried to kiss me. I really wished he would.

"Definitely cocky if you refer to them as 'mad skill'." I was barely able to speak with a level voice and a soft laugh left his lips.

"I would surely say so." I heard the feminine voice and Jacob quickly snatched his hand away from me, his voice showing that he was reserved. Why was it that anytime Angela was around that he distanced himself from me? Was it just Angela or was he really ashamed of his questionable feelings for me?

"Hey, Ang." Jake gave her a small smile as she skipped around my truck.

"Hey." She had a big grin across her face and I could see that she wanted to say how she was right about me seeing Jake sooner rather than later. "So, I guess you got your truck, huh?" I looked at her surprised as Jacob's eyes snapped to her.

"You knew?" She rolled her eyes.

"Please. As soon as he referred to the truck as 'classified', it was very obvious what was going on." I nodded and she nodded towards the yard. "Can I steal you away for a second?" I nodded and jumped out of the truck, walking with Angela towards the direction of the forest edge. We got some distance between us and Jacob. He stayed leaned against the side of the truck, kicking at the dirt. "What did I tell you?" She said with a sweet voice.

"Did you know he would be here today?" I asked and her eyes widened before she shook her head.

"Not a clue. Embry didn't say anything to me about it. All Embry said was that Jake blew him off today when he asked to hang out with him. Something about having something to take care of." I nodded with a frown and she sighed. "What's wrong? Jake came to see you. You should be happy."

"I'm not so sure of that. His dad can't drive. He didn't have any choice, but to come. Charlie bought the truck off of Billy so he had to deliver it." Angela placed her hand on my shoulder as I sighed in defeat. "I really think you have to be wrong about him because he's acting as if he's embarrassed of me." She looked surprised and I ran my fingers through my hair, my muscles tensing.

"Why would you even think that?"

"Because, when Charlie and Billy were around, he barely even said two words to me. They go inside and he's back to being all chatty like he was on Friday, but then, you get here and he closes off like he doesn't want anyone to know he even would consider me as a friend. The boy is obviously embarrassed of being associated with me." I confessed and I felt tears developing in my eyes. What was wrong with me that had him acting like he was? It wasn't like this until he tried to kiss me.

"Bella, he's just a guy. It's all new for him. He's unsure of what is appropriate and what isn't. Hell, Embry even does that with me around certain people. Remember, you are both single. It's not like he is your boyfriend who is ignoring your existence for the hell of it." Don't remind me that he's not my boyfriend. "Bella, you've dated guys before. You know how they can be." I blushed as she said this and wiped at my eyes.

"No, I haven't." Her eyes widened and her jaw slacked.

"What? Are you serious? You've _never_ been in a relationship before?" I nodded and she sighed in relief. "Oh, my god. That makes so much sense. No wonder you don't understand the way he is acting. I thought for a second that maybe you were just clingy or something." I shook my head and averted my gaze.

"Nope. No past relationships for me." Angela sighed and went to say something, but I stalled her. "I really don't want to talk about it. I think I'm just going to excuse myself." I walked away and towards the house. Jacob looked at me confused before strolling over to me as I reached the porch.

"Are you okay?" He asked and tried to touch my arm, but I flinched away. I couldn't handle the contact and it looked like it hurt him that I couldn't stand for him to touch me right then.

"I'm fine. I just need to excuse myself for a bit." I walked up the steps and walked fast to my room, hoping that I didn't arouse any suspicion. I heard footsteps behind me, but I didn't stop. I made it to my room and closed the door behind me. I slid down the door, hugging my legs to my chest, as silent tears fell down my face.

I was wasting my time. This boy had exhibited behavior that would say that he liked me in private, but nullified it when others were around. He was playing with my emotions and it hurt, bad. It felt like my heart was throbbing from the pain he was inflicting on it from his back and forth.

He was hot one moment then cold the next. I honestly believed that I deserved to know where I stood, but I was too afraid to even ask him how he felt about me.

I must have been suffering from fucking whiplash. One second, we were laughing and joking around then Angela, the biggest pain in my ass, came around, then Bella seemed to be crying. She wouldn't talk to me which was a first. She just ran off into the house and I tried to follow her, but she closed me out. I wasn't sure what I could do for her if she wouldn't let me help.

I was stumped and frustrated.

This girl had me wrapped around her fucking finger like a damn puppy. From the moment I saw her, I was done for. Her big doe eyes and the way she would hide behind her hair when she started to blush, God, she was just so beautiful. She was like a siren. Everything about her drew me in as of it was meant to bring me to my knees. I was quickly becoming consumed by my attraction to that girl and it wasn't just how fucking gorgeous she was. She was so sweet and funny. Things were easy with her. There was no struggle to find something in common with us or searching for a topic to discuss. I found myself being able to talk about anything with her.

Angela had tried many times to get me interested in girls from her school since I didn't like any of the chicks I went to school with, but none of them were interesting to me. My friends thought it was weird because the girls they thought were smoking hot did nothing for me. I had no idea even what kind of girl I was attracted to until that day at the beach where Bella Swan came crashing into my life and that was it.

The only one I wanted, desired, or longed for was her. Hell, there wasn't a single thing about her that was a turnoff for me. Her voice was the perfect melody, her skin like silk, and the most amazing thing was that she acted as if she had no idea how gorgeous and amazing she was.

Once we had almost kissed, I found it hard to look at her when my mind drifted to that dark place, the place of where my hormonal teenager thoughts rested. I struggled to stop myself from just kissing her even though I desperately wanted to.

I didn't want to risk my stupidity fucking this up for me. She acted like she liked me, but looks could be deceiving. I had a lapse of control when I almost kissed her at my house. I probably freaked her out about that. What the hell was I thinking? I had just met her hours before then and I thought it was okay to kiss her! I was a fucking dumbass to think she would even be okay with that. I probably would have made a fool of myself if Angela hadn't interrupted us.

That girl did something to me. With her looking at me with those sweet, chocolate eyes of hers, I couldn't stop myself from trying to kiss her. I knew there would be a lot of times where I would be in that place where I struggled to keep my hands to myself if I was around her, but god, I couldn't keep myself away.

I had called the next day to see if she wanted to hang out, but there was no answer so I left a message on the answering machine. She never called me back, though. I thought I had to have been an idiot when she didn't call me back, but when she pulled up and I saw how her face lit up, I knew I was stupid for thinking that she might have been ignoring me.

It was pretty embarrassing when I found out that Charlie had no idea that Bella and I had met Friday night. I wasn't sure what kind of relationship he had with his daughter, but I figured she would have said something. It's not like our parents were complete strangers. We grew up around each other. I wouldn't have expected her to tell him about how I almost kissed her, but I thought she would have _mentioned_ that we hung out.

One moment, I felt like a dumbass for putting myself out there for this girl, and the next, my hope grew back for something to grow between us.

I strolled back outside without Charlie or my dad noticing my presence at all. Angela still stood outside, looking a little upset.

"Is she okay?" She asked, worried.

"I don't know. What happened? She was fine before she went off to talk to you." I insinuating that she was the issue and she scowled.

"Fuck you, Jake. I didn't do shit. You're the one who upset her." My eyes widened as she said this. What the hell could I have done? I hadn't said anything bad or snapped at her. How could I be the issue?

"What are you talking about?" She huffed and crossed her arms at me.

"Are you seriously that blind? Bella likes you, alot." I really wanted her to be right, but I wasn't completely sure myself. I learned a long time ago not to just trust something just because it looks honest and right.

"What makes you think that?" I asked nonchalantly and her eyes rolled with irritation.

"You are an idiot sometimes." I groaned. Sometimes, I really didn't like Angela. She could be very nosy and she stuck her nose in other people's business she had no right to intrude on. Embry was a lot like that, but if you told him to back off, he did. Angela did not have the ability to take no as an answer.

"How the hell am I an idiot?"

"Because Bella didn't have to tell me that she likes you for me to see it. Everyone at the beach saw it. Mike and Tyler were up my ass today asking me if you were now her boyfriend. You were fucking attached for _hours_. I haven't seen her like that with anyone. So you know, Bella did tell me she likes you and you are giving her mixed fucking signals." I was overjoyed that Bella had actually said that she liked me, but a part of me wasn't sure if I should believe Angela about this.

"How the hell would I be giving mixed signals?" Angela huffed at me with disbelief.

"Hello? Are you that clueless?" I really wished she would stop with those damn comments. "When you're alone, you act like you like her, but when others are around, you act like she doesn't even fucking exist. She thinks you are fucking embarrassed of her so, yeah, she's upset." I couldn't fucking believe this. How could this amazing girl think _I_ was embarrassed of _her_? "You need to decide what you fucking want and stick with it. If you like her, fucking tell her. If not, stay the hell away from her. Make up your fucking mind, Black. I don't ever want to see that girl crying because of you again. Capiese?" Angela stormed off, stomping her way down the sidewalk.

She was right, though. I was an idiot. Even if I made a fool of myself, I needed to fix this and that was my plan.

I splashed water on my face and wiped it off with a towel. I hoped this would hide the fact that I had been balling my eyes out, but my eyes were still a little puffy. I hoped no one would notice this.

I walked out of the bathroom and found Jacob leaned against the wall opposite of me, a sad smile across his face.

"Hey. You alright?" He asked softly and I nodded.

"Yeah. Just had a headache is all." I lied through my teeth. "I took some medicine and now I'm all good." I gave him a smile. I was going to walk into the living room, an attempt to avoid Jake, but he wasn't having it.

"Wait." He grabbed my hand and I turned to him, tilting my head with perplexion in my eyes.

"What?" I asked and pulled my hand out of his, hugging my stomach. I felt exposed to him and I didn't want to feel like he could see to the depth of my soul.

"We need to talk." This worried me. I could see the apologies in his eyes, but I wasn't sure what about. He couldn't possibly know why I had been crying my eyes out, could he?

"Okay. What's up?" I tried to sound casual, but I was sure he sensed my anxiety. I was trying to stay closed off to him, hoping to repair my heart from the damage done, but with him, it was hard. It was difficult to keep from becoming putty with one look in his eyes.

"Not here. Can we go somewhere alone?" This scared me. This boy, the one who had weaseled his way into my heart, wanted to go somewhere, alone, to talk. _He doesn't want to be seen with you._ My subconscious said to me which hurt, bad. I flinched unconsciously and he saw it. His eyes narrowed with sorrow before he placed his hand on my shoulder. "Please." His voice was low and like silk. I gulped and caved to his request.

"Okay. We can go to my room, I guess." I shrugged a little and he gave a victorious grin. _Asshole_.

"Lead the way." I strolled to my room and left the door open as I walked in. I leaned against the dresser before turning towards the door. I watched as he slowly closed the door before shuffling his feet nervously.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked quietly, almost a whisper. I struggled to control the volume of my voice. I looked up at him from under my hair. He looked tonguetied, unable to find his voice. Almost like he forgot how to speak. He was nervous and a little frazzled. "What?" I asked and his eyes searched mine. He looked anxious, irritated, and in disbelief for a moment. Had he suddenly come down with laryngitis? Why wasn't he talking? "What is it?" I tried to coax an answer from him and he groaned before taking a seat on my bed.

"It's hard to say. I'm trying to figure out the best way to phrase it without...upsetting you." I nodded in understanding. I got that, but still, I had no idea what this was about. I was growing impatient to find out what this was all about. "The thing is…" He trailed off as he stood up, looking at me with pleading eyes. He seemed pensive then reserved as if he was trying to control himself. Suddenly, he seemed to come undone, abandoning any thoughts of control. "Oh, fuck it." He took one long stride to me with such an endearing look in his eyes, gripped my face on his hands, and pressed his mouth to mine fully. I was filled to the brim with shock.

Jake was kissing me!

I pushed my shock and gripped onto his shirt, holding him close. My lips moved fluidly with his and his hands moved from my face to my hair, stroking down my strands, before his arms encased my waist. I gingerly touched my hands to his jawline while I moaned into his mouth.

God, his taste was so amazing. He tasted like mint, so perfect.

He pulled me closer and I buried my hands in his hair, a slight groan leaving his lips.

The next thing I knew, we were in my bed, his body between my legs as he took control of my mouth with his. He had a hand on my hip and his thumb rubbed over my cool flesh under my camisole. I whimpered as he did this. His warm hand felt so good.

I never wanted to stop. Kissing him was way better than I thought it would be. I always thought a first kiss was supposed to be soft, sweet, and chaste, but these weren't from the first one. They were full of passion, rapture, and all-consuming.

He pulled out of the kiss as my hands stayed cupping his jaw, both of us struggling to regulate our breathing. I went to try to kiss him again, but he pressed a finger to my parted, bruised lips.

"Shh." I stayed still as he stared into my eyes and I gazed right back. God, his eyes were out of this world. I laid down with my arms at my side as he took a deep breath. I hadn't realized that in our passionate kissing the strap of my top had fallen down my arm, revealing the top of my baby blue bra. I flushed as he pushed the strap back over my shoulder, using just a single finger. "I hope that didn't freak you out?" He questioned in a light whisper. His voice was so quiet that I almost didn't catch what he said.

"No." I released a deep, heavy breath and he smirked before he kissed me again. I moaned into his mouth and was about to pull him closer when he released my lips.

"My plan was to wait to do that, but the longer I waited, the harder it was to resist." The hope for there to be a me and him was back and it was on overdrive.

"Why?" I asked and he reached to my cheek, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. It was as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"I don't want us to rush into anything." He confessed before pressing his forehead to mine.

Now, it all made sense, his behavior, how he seemed so distant when others were around and was fighting with himself when we were alone. He did want me, but he wanted to wait before something happened between us.

"I don't want this, us, to just…" It was as if he couldn't bring himself to mention to possibility of this not being something special. It was special, though. I knew it in my heart.

"Me neither." I confessed and he smirked affectionately at me.

"I think we need to, um, take this slow. Start off as friends then work our way there." I thought this was a very responsible and logical answer, but a part of me want to just throw any caution to the wind and keep kissing this boy.

"Sounds like a plan." He chuckled happily and moved to get up, but his crotch rubbed against my leg and shock filled me.

Jacob Black had an erection! He was seriously turned on by us kissing. This just gave me an ego boost, but also made me blush like crazy. _That_ had never been something that preoccupied my mind very much. I knew most teenage boys constantly thought about sex, but it was absolutely ridiculous to me that he had been thinking like that while we were making out.

He stood up out of the bed and helped me to my feet. His hands grasped my hips as I looked up at him, his eyes dark and concentrated. He looked amazed and his hand came up to my cheek, rubbing the flushed flesh. I unconsciously rubbed my cheek against his warm palm, my eyes drifting. No one had ever touched me so intimately and it felt so good to have him touching me like this. I slowly opened my eyes and saw him staring at me so awestruck.

"Beautiful." He whispered then his mouth was on mine again. I whimpered from the sweet kiss and stood on my tiptoes, pressing my mouth more against his. He pulled my body flush against his and I was putty in his hands. His pulled his lips back, out of breath again, and pressed his forehead to mine. "God," he whispered in a soft voice and I nodded. That kiss was just as amazing as the last ones. I wondered who could have taught him to be such an amazing kisser.

 _He's never shown an interest in any girl before._ I recalled Angela's words and it brought a smile to my face instead of instilling doubt in my heart. I was the first girl he had ever been interested in. Just like he was the first boy I had ever liked.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." I nodded as he pulled away, putting some distance between us. The distance didn't last. He took my hand and we strolled out of my room towards the living room. Billy and Charlie seemed so engrossed by the recorded game they were watching that they didn't even notice we were there.

"We are going to head out for a little bit. Okay, Dad?" I said just as loud as the tv was and Charlie waved his hand at me.

"Whatever you say, Gladys." Jake and I snickered from what he had said before we left the house. I broke into laughter and leaned my head against his arm.

"Did he just seriously call you Gladys?" I nodded as we made it to the truck.

"Do they always get like that?" I asked and he nodded.

"Pretty much. They have tunnel vision when it comes to a Mariner's game. I wouldn't be surprised if they are passed out with beer bottles all around them when we get back. You get used to it after awhile." He seemed solemn and I stopped walking, seeing the frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" We suddenly went from laughing to something that was really bothering him.

"It's nothing." He tried to sweep it under the rug, but I could be stubborn.

"It doesn't look like nothing. You can talk to me." He gulped and nodded before we climbed into the truck. He got in the driver's seat and I sat close to him.

"It's just….my dad acts like a kid half the time. He tries to ignore all of his health problems like, if he doesn't acknowledge them, they will just go away. He shouldn't be drinking because of his diabetes, but it's like he doesn't care anymore." I felt terrible for Jake. When Billy had been there before, I had forgotten that he was diabetic. I probably would have said something about him drinking like a fish if I had. I had already mentioned to Charlie that he should cut back his drinking and he didn't have any health issues like Billy did.

"I'm sorry." I pressed my cheek into his arm and he noticeably gulped.

"My sisters left because of it. As Rachel put it, my dad is like a movie. We saw the beginning and the middle. They didn't need to sit by to know how tragic the end would be." This poor boy was having to sit by and watch his father slowly kill himself with sheer stupidity. I didn't know what I would do in his situation.

"That's terrible." He let out a loud sigh and I pressed my face to his neck for comfort. No wonder he seemed so responsible for a sixteen year old boy. He was constantly having to worry about Billy's health and whether today would be the day that he ended up killing himself by neglecting his own health.

He wiggled his arm and I thought he might push me away, but he moved his arm around my shoulder.

"I know what it's like, having to worry about your parent like that." I confessed and he looked to me with eyes narrowed.

"How? Charlie's not like that." I bit my lip and shook my head,

"Not my dad. My mom. I've basically been raising myself since I was nine. When we left here, we lived with my Gran, but when I was nine, she died. My Gran took care of me and kept my mom in line. My mom drank a lot, partied, and sometimes didn't wake up until I got home from school." He looked at me pensively as I continued. "After Gran died, we lived off my mom's inheritance, but it didn't last long. Sometimes, the only food I would eat was at school because money was so tight and my mom didn't know how to budget her spending at all.

"My school called Child Services because they could tell that I was dropping a lot of weight. If it wasn't for that, it probably wouldn't have gotten any better." He looked saddened by my sob story of my terrible upbringing.

"Why did you stay? Why didn't you ask Charlie to come live with him?" He questioned. I thought he would understand more than anyone else my reasoning for going through the daily torture of hunger.

"She needed me so I stayed." His eyes relaxed with comprehension and his hand grasped my own. "It got all better once she met her husband. Phil got her act together and I knew she didn't need me anymore. She still wants me with her, but she doesn't need me." I shrugged nonchalantly and he sighed. "My mom didn't realize she was doing anything wrong until someone told her. My mom isn't normal." I struggled to find a good way to explain myself. Jacob gazed at me encouragingly before I took a deep breath.

"What do you mean by not normal?"

"She's autistic." I said honestly and his eyes widened with disbelief. "Her kind of logic isn't the same as everyone else's. She doesn't really have common sense. She's doesn't understand sarcasm. Sometimes, she can't even stand to be touched or look at anyone.

"She didn't notice that I was losing weight. Her thinking was 'I don't mind going all day without eating so my daughter isn't bothered by it'. That's the way she saw it until someone from Child Services sat her down and explained that I couldn't just go without eating. So, that's my story." I gave a sad smile, the most I could muster, and his free hand went to my cheek, holding his forehead to mine.

"Jesus Christ." He whispered as we both relaxed and I placed my hand over his.

No words were needed. We both endured the pain, whether physical or emotional, of trying to help our parents when it was them who should have been protecting us from that pain. We knew we were both the same and, if no one else understood the pain, it was us that did.

 **Did you like this little twist? What did you think? How long do you think they should wait?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Leave me lots of love!**

 **Warning: foreplay alert!**

In My Heart

 **Chapter Four**

"Where are we going?" I asked as Jacob pulled out of the driveway, his arm still slung over my shoulder, and a soft chuckle left his lips.

"I figured we could go to my house. Those two will be making fools of themselves shortly and I'm sure neither one of us will want to see that." He laughed loudly and I joined in.

"You won't be hearing any complaints from me." I teased him and he chuckled. We chatted away through the drive to the reservation, not really about important. He talked about his classes and his friends in school as I listened closely. I explained to him about the guys in my friend group and how none of them could take a hint that I wasn't interested.

"It's probably not that." Jake commented on the matter as he parked in front of the garage. We climbed out and walked around the truck to the back, leaning against it.

"What do you mean?" I asked and he chortled.

"Well, did you actually _say_ you weren't interested or just avoid the subject?" I shrugged and grimaced at the thought of agreeing to a date with any of them. There was nothing wrong with Mike, Tyler, or Eric, but I learned a long time ago not to trust just any guy easily.

"Just avoid the subject, I guess. I just tell them I'm busy or jump into a conversation with someone else. Mike and Eric keep trying to ask me to this dance that's in a month." He laughed as I said this and shined his bright smile at me.

"Do you have a problem with dances?" I widened my eyes and shook my head.

"No, there's nothing wrong with them. I just think that it's weird to just ask someone to go with you just because you don't want to be there alone. Just go alone or go with the person you are dating. That's my stance on school dances except for prom." He chuckled as he unlatched the tailgate, folding it down. We jumped up and sat side by side.

"You wouldn't go to a regular school dance with someone you're not dating, but you would prom?" I laughed and shook my head. It was so much fun just talking to Jake.

"God, no! I will _never_ go to prom, ever." He looked to me perplexed.

"Why not?" I huffed before looking at him with a crooked smile.

"I'm a cop's daughter _and_ a high school teacher's daughter. I have heard _too many_ prom horror stories." He threw his head back laughing. "Plus, prom is just a stupid tradition. It's supposed to signify the end of your high school career and it used to be where everyone was supposed to lose their virginities and crap like that, but it's not the same as it used to be. Now, there's the junior prom and sophomore prom. I will not be surprised when they start having the freshmen prom." I rolled my eyes at the ridiculousness of that coveted dance.

"So, you just hate prom?" I giggled and shook my head.

"Not entirely. I mean, I was conceived on my mom's prom night." I confessed and his jaw slacked.

"What?"

"I am a prom night baby. Well, from what my mom says I am." He snickered and I felt his arm move around my waist which made me blush as I gazed at him. "My dad is a different story, though." I fought against the smile that wanted to come to life.

"How is that?"

"Anytime you mention to him that I was conceived then, he says 'I don't know what you are talking about. You definitely didn't come from me because I'm still a virgin.'" I watched in amusement as Jacob threw his head back laughing till his face was red.

"Seriously?" I nodded happily.

"Then my mom would fight him about it and be all like 'Oh, Charlie! Don't be like that! Of course, he's just kidding, Bella. Charlie, stop sticking those ideas in her head!'" I mimicked Renee perfectly and Jacob just found this to be completely hilarious. He clutched his stomach as he laughed and I smiled from how funny he thought this all was. I didn't think it was funny back then because I didn't understand, but I saw how funny it was now.

"Oh, my god!" He snickered before he hugged me, pressing his chin to the top of my hair. I relaxed as I took in his musky scent. God, he smelled _amazing_! "You just made that up, didn't you?" I quickly shook my head before gazing up at his onyx eyes, smirking happily.

"Not at all." He grinned before we heard a loud 'whoop' sound come from the direction of the street. Lifting my eyes, I saw two figures approach. I quickly realized it was Embry and Quil. It was a little odd to not see Angela with Embry, but I reminded myself that she couldn't be with him all the time since she didn't have a car and neither did he.

Maybe I should offer to give her a lift anytime I go to the reservation to see Jake. It would be nice to help my friend out. Plus, if Angela was preoccupying Embry, there would be more of a chance that Jake and I would be alone.

"Hey, Bella!" Embry's voice was cheerful and I noticed Jake remove his arm from around my waist, gripping onto the edge of the tailgate. Before I had a chance to feel self conscious about this, I reminded myself that we weren't a couple and this was just as new to him as it was to me.

"Hey, Embry, Quil." I gave a small wave as the dynamic duo stopped in front of us.

"So this is what was so important that you rushed out of school like your ass was on fire?" Quil teased Jake and I couldn't help, but snicker. The image of Jake running down the street to his house was too funny.

"I had to drive my dad to Charlie's house." Jake shrugged it off like it wasn't a big deal. I was sure he just didn't want to look weak or maybe overly invested in front of his friends. I couldn't blame him. I did the same to Angela.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Embry inquired and seemed to look around like he was waiting for Angela to pop up out of nowhere.

"My dad and Billy were in the middle of their game so we decided to get out of there before they made fools of themselves." I nudged Jake's shoulder and he chortled along with me.

"So, you Jake's girlfriend now, Bella?" Quil questioned with his eyebrow raised like he was trying to look intrigued. I blushed before I bit my lip.

"Um, we're friends." _For now_ , I thought to myself, but when I looked to Jake, from his smile, I wondered if he knew that part I was thinking.

"Oh, burn!" Quil laughed at Jake and I didn't think it was funny. If Jacob had asked me out earlier when he kissed me, I would have said 'when and where', but he was being reasonable about this and I appreciated that.

"So you have a girlfriend? That's awesome. I'll make sure to tell her about you inquiring my relationship status on Friday." I tried to embarrass Quil in Jake's defense, but it just made Jacob laugh wholeheartedly while Embry's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, right. Quil doesn't do the whole 'girlfriend' thing. He asks girls if they are in a relationship just to know who will ignore his advances and who will slap him into next week." I giggled and Quil rolled his eyes.

"You're a real riot, Black." Jacob had a big shit-eating grin across his face. He looked real proud of himself.

"I know, I am." And the smug Jacob had returned. He only seemed to come out in spouts where he was full of himself, but I thought it was cute. It wasn't like he was really narcissistic, but more so that he just played along with whatever someone was saying.

I thought Jacob reserved the right to be a little smug. The boy had rebuilt the engine of my truck by himself, he took care of his father that didn't even care about his own health, did good in school, and still had time for his friends. He was even ready to take on fitting me into his schedule. I didn't know many sixteen year old boys who could handle all that.

In my opinion, Jacob Black was the most amazing boy I had ever met. I knew in that moment that I was falling for him as I watched him jump off the tailgate and start wrestling Quil in the yard.

So much weighed on his shoulders yet he could still act like a kid and have fun. I admired him for this.

"I got five bucks on Quil." Embry said as he took Jake's seat next to me and I giggled. Jake was covered in lean muscle, not like a bodybuilder or someone who worked out daily, but someone who just got it from working hard every day. Plus, he had the upper hand in his battle with Quil.

"You're on." I shook Embry's hand and watched the two boys wrestle it out. As I knew it would happen, Jake won and I got five bucks out of it.

I had quickly gotten the hang of the clutch. It wasn't nearly as bad as Billy or Jacob made it sound.

I drove us back to Charlie's house when the sun started to set and we got there in just ten minutes. I thought it would take longer than that. We slowly got out of the truck and Jake made his way around to me before taking my hand in his.

"I just realized something." I spoke quietly and he raised an eyebrow at me in question. I couldn't help, but giggle at this face he made. He was so cute. "How are you and your dad getting home tonight? My dad is probably drunk off his ass." Jake chortled and we strolled up the porch.

"We usually would stay here, but that's all up to Charlie. That was also before you came to town." That thought made my heart race. Would Charlie really be okay with Jake sleeping in the same house as me? Sure, he didn't know I was interested in Jake or that he was interested in me, but he had exhibited signs of being pretty protective of me. I wasn't a little girl anymore, but he still acted as if I was a damn porcelain doll.

"Other than that, the only option would be for me to drive you guys home." He shrugged as I opened the front door. The house was silent other than laughter coming from the kitchen. "Guess they aren't passed out." He chuckled.

"Doesn't mean they aren't drunk." I agreed. He dropped my hand as we strolled into the kitchen, finding our fathers sitting at the table. They were laughing while they downed another beer.

"The kids are here!" Billy exclaimed and I flushed. Yup, they were definitely drunk.

"Bells!" Charlie exclaimed as he slouched in his chair. "Did you guys have fun?" I nodded as I leaned against the kitchen counter with Jake by my side.

"Yup, we had a blast." I blushed at Jacob when I caught him staring at me. I averted my gaze to try and hide my blush behind my hair, but I knew he could see how constantly affected I was by him.

"Are you guys hungry? I can cook something if you want?" I knew food would help sober them up some. It wasn't very good to drink that much on an empty stomach.

"You cook, Bella?" Billy asked with a slur and I nodded.

"My daughter's food is better than that damn diner that sucks me dry." Billy laughed at this. These two were completely shit faced. From what I knew, Charlie was a frequent visitor to the town diner, but stopped going once I came to town and started cooking for him.

"You know, Bella, back in my day-" Charlie quickly interrupted him.

"The Stone Age?" Seriously? These two bickered like two old ladies! Was this what I was to expect Jake and Embry to be like when they were older? I was struggling to keep from laughing at the thought.

"You're the same age as me, you old hag!" Charlie laughed fully. "Anyways, back in my day, any young woman who could cook better than the diner and who kept a house as well as you do would have every boy within a five mile radius banging down her door." I flushed as Billy said this. Even if Jacob wasn't standing right next to me, this was the most embarrassing comment someone could have made to me, other than discussing their sex life. Or my nonexistent sex life. That would have been even worse.

"Hey! That's my daughter!" I felt Jake slip his arm around my waist in a way that was almost like he was staking his claim on me, but neither of these drunken fools noticed. I glanced up at Jake and he smirked affectionately down at me. I think he knew these two were too intoxicated to notice how Jake was holding me, how it was so intimate and a little possessive.

"It's true!"

"Oh, really? Well, then, why did you marry Sarah?" Jake flushed from the mention of his late mother.

"I could ask the same thing about Renee, old man." Great! Now, Jake and I were going to have to hear a discuss about our fathers relationships with our mothers.

"Eh! The sex was good." I was mortified at this point. I didn't want to imagine Renee and Charlie going at it.

"I know. You would stop talking about it when Renee first gave it up to you." Charlie rolled his eyes and huffed.

"What was I going to say?" Oh, right!" To keep from having to watch this conversation unfold, I strolled over to the refrigerator and searched for something to cook. I desperately needed to restock this fridge. Now that I had my truck, it would be way easier and wouldn't take any time out of Charlie's day. "My daughter is smarter than any of those girls around here that just throw themselves at the first guy who shows them attention. I have seen how that Lauren Mallory girl flashes her shit around town. My Bella is smart enough not to be like that. She has assured me that she's not interested in any of the boys around here." I could not believe that Charlie was talking about me as if I wasn't standing there. I grabbed the leftover lasagna I made and put it on a plate before shoving it in the microwave.

"She has only been here a week." Billy slurred and Charlie scoffed.

"I swear, if some boy comes around for my daughter, I'm gonna… I'm gonna…" He trailed off for a minute and I looked at Charlie's grimacing face. "Shit, I knew this." I could not believe that this was how plastered they were. Charlie couldn't even finish his sentence, but I was glad he couldn't. I definitely didn't want his drunken words to scare Jacob away. Billy started laughing aloud.

"I believe, what you were going to say was 'I'm gonna put a chastity belt on Bella.'" Charlie nodded and my eyes widened.

I couldn't believe this was the direction their minds had gone.

I pulled the lasagna out of the microwave and sat it on the table between the two men. They were basically salivating from the delicious smell coming from my masterpiece the night before.

"You really should sober up, Dad." I placed my hand on Charlie's shoulder and he grumbled in protest as him and Billy stuffed their faces.

"Why?" He whined and I snickered. He sounded like a damn child begging for a piece of candy.

"Because don't you need to drive Jacob and Billy home?" He shook his head while shoving his face with his fork. He missed his mouth and poked his cheek. Jake snickered as we saw this.

"Nah. Billy can sleep on the couch and Jake can sleep in your room." _Did you just seriously say for Jake to be sleeping in my room? With ME!_ Jake looked excited and I avoided his gaze.

"Um, okay. I-um- excuse me." I walked off to my room and locked the door behind me before grabbing my phone. I was panicking.

I dialed Angela's number. I really needed some advice here.

"Bella! Are you feeling better?"

"Ang, I need your help. I'm really freaking out here." I switched on the radio, hoping to drown out my voice with the noise of music. I hoped no one was eavesdropping, but it was possible.

"Bella, calm down. What's wrong?" I took a deep breath before pushing my face into my hand.

"Charlie is having Jake and Billy...stay the night." I cringed at the idea. Angela just laughed.

"And? What's the big deal? Embry has spent the night at my place hundreds of time. Granted, his mom didn't know he was here. She thought he was at Quil's house." She explained and I groaned.

"You don't get it. Charlie wants Jake to sleep in my room with me." Now, Angela gasped.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yes! Now, you know why I'm freaking out! He's going to be sleeping in the same bed as me." My nerves were shot.

"Okay, okay, okay! Well, tell me what happened when I left your house. I saw Jake go inside, but that was it." I flushed as she asked this. The memory of Jacob kissing me so passionately, so full of desire, came to the forefront of my mind.

"Well, I-uh...You see, um…"

"Oh, god, girl! Just tell me!" I groaned and dropped my shoulders in defeat.

"Okay, fine. This is what happened." I explained to her the amazing way Jake had kissed me, how he nearly knocked me off my feet, and how we ended up in my bed making out like two horny teenagers.

"I can't believe Jake kissed you!"

"Neither can I. I wasn't expecting that. He was trying to talk to me, but it was like he couldn't get the words out that he was trying to say. That wasn't how I imagined my first kiss to be. I thought they were supposed to be sweet, soft, and reserved, but that wasn't. It was like, oh, my god." I couldn't even bring myself to say the words to Angela.

"Most first kisses are like that. Mine was just a light peck on the lips. Most first kisses are done on a date as a goodbye. It sounds like he was just trying to get you to see how he feels about you." I went onto explain to her what Jake had said to me after we kissed, how he wants us to take things slow, and how he wanted to be sure this was something special between us before we jumped the gun. "Well, damn. That definitely different than most guys our age."

"How so?" I inquired.

"Most sixteen year old boys are so overfilled with hormones and their sex drive is peeked that they just want to start dating the girl they like as soon as possible. The sooner they start dating, the sooner the girl they like will let them in their pants. Jake isn't like that obviously. It usually takes guys until they are in their twenties, sometimes in their thirties, to be like that. Hell, Embry asked me out right after we met. Of course, since I was fourteen at the time, I didn't give it up to him until my fifteenth birthday which was seven months later. Most girls in high school only wait about four months before having sex with their boyfriend." I was glad she gave me this piece of information. Since I had never dated or been close to girls in Arizona, I had no idea what was a normal wait time for that.

"Well, that was pretty much it." I wasn't about to tell her that Jake and I went to La Push to hang out. That would probably just make her sad that she missed out on getting to see Embry. "I swear, if you help me out with this, I will take you to see Embry every day of the week for the rest of the school year." I pleaded and she laughed.

"Okay, okay! I'll help you. The bribing wasn't necessary, but appreciated." I would have done it just because of how big of a help I knew Angela would be. "One, make sure to keep the air around you guys from being awkward. That would surely make Jake uncomfortable. Just be yourself, which Jake already likes you how you are, and don't let yourself get too worked up." I nodded as she said this. That would be easy enough. "Two, and this might be a little harder for you, I want you to find the sexiest pajamas you have." My eyes widened as she said this.

"What? Why?"

"Because you don't want that boy to leave that house without tonight being constantly on replay in his head. I'm not telling you to sleep with him, which you can if you want to, but what I am saying is that Jake already thinks you're hot." I blushed when she told me this. "At the beach, he was constantly staring at your butt and your breasts. I'm just saying for you to make him want you so bad that, no matter how little you do, he can't stop thinking about you. Trust me, that boy won't be able to keep his hands off of you as it is, but if you wore something sexy, he won't be able to stop himself and you will be the only thing on his mind. He won't be able to focus on _anything."_ I blushed and decided to go with her advice.

I wanted him to want me that bad, but I wasn't ready for us to go all the way. Some fooling around wouldn't hurt though.

"Any other advice?" I questioned and she laughed.

"If you do have sex with him, use protection, and, if you end up sucking him off, guys like it if you gag on them." I groaned as she said this.

"Bye." I hung up and threw my face in my hands. How was I going to get through this without stumbling over my words and tripping over my own feet?

First thing to do, I had to search through my clothes for something that would fit Angela's description. _Sexy_. Yeah, right. The best I could do in that department was sleeping my bra and panties, which hell no I wasn't doing that, so I settled for a pair of girl boxers and a camisole. If I got cold, I could always turn on the space heater in my room.

I walked out of my room and went to go into the bathroom, but the door opened and out walked Jacob. His hair was dripping and he was wearing a thin grey tank and a pair of basketball shorts.

 _Oh, shit!_ He smirked as he rubbed his hair with a towel in his hand.

"Charlie said I could take a shower." He explained and I bit my lip, nodding. I had a hard time forming a thought.

"Sure, sure." I went to move around him and he gazed at me knowingly as I moved into the bathroom. "Bye." I closed the door before exhausting a large breath. I heard him laughing outside the door before walking in the direction of my room. I wondered for a moment if he did that on purpose, effecting me like that.

I realized something had suddenly changed. I wasn't just attracted to Jacob, I was lusting after him. Seeing him so wet, in that little amount of clothes, it had my gut convulsing and my mind was fogged. I was hot for that boy.

I shook off my thoughts and peeled off my dirty clothes before discarding them in the hamper. I looked upon my body in the mirror. There was nothing special about my body. Sure, my butt was firm and my breasts were perky, but there was nothing special.

 _Woah!_ While looking at my body, I realized that, in the last six months, my body went from that of a child, my silhouette straight up and down, to curvy. It was like my body was a wave. My chest was wider than my abdominals, but my hips were just as far from my gut as my chest. I wasn't just a stick figure anymore. Why hadn't I realized this before?

I shook off my thoughts and jumped in the shower. I cleaned myself thoroughly. I used my favorite body wash and shampoo, strawberry scented, then I was good to go. I climbed out and dried myself off, my hair coming out in ringlets. I brushed out my hair and brushed my teeth before putting on my pajamas. I looked like I usually did.

Before moving to Forks, this was how I usually dressed for bed. Shorts and a small top.

I left the bathroom and found that both of our parents were passed out in the living room, Billy laying on the sofa and Charlie in the recliner. I rolled my eyes before making my way to my room.

I was awestruck when I saw Jacob sitting casually on my bed. There was nothing casual about this. This boy who I had a major crush on was going to be sleeping in my bed with me. Our parents were already asleep so it was just me and him. We might as well been left in a house by ourselves all night.

"Hey." He smirked at me. I blushed profusely.

"Hey yourself." He reached for my hand and I gave him a small smile.

"I know this is a little weird." I shrugged a little before sitting in bed where I usually slept, on the right side.

"Doesn't have to be." I tried to be encouraging and it must have worked. He climbed into bed next to me and crossed his arms behind his head, gazing at me knowingly. It was like he knew that him being here was affecting me. He chuckled loudly before smirking at me.

"Relax. I'm not going to bite." I giggled as he said this. "Come here." I bit my lip and scouted over to him. His arms moved around my waist and I rested my head against his chest. I felt so relaxed in his arms. He was warm, but not like he had a fever. It was like his aura was radiating heat from him, his sunny disposition manifesting physically. I let out a breath of relief.

His hand moved from my waist, rubbing my exposed thigh, before his fingers made gentle contact with my face, tilting my chin up. I gazed into his joyous eyes and let out a small breath. Why did he have to be so damn attractive?

"Bella, you are so beautiful." My heart fluttered as he said this to me. I bit my lip and his thumb ran over my lip. I released my lip as his eyes went from affectionate to lustful. I let out a shaky breath as his hands moved to my cheek. Slowly, his face leaned down to mine. I was in anticipation.

I couldn't wait for him to kiss me.

I hurriedly pressed my mouth against his and enthusiastically moaned into his lips, stroking my hand along his jaw. He groaned in response and his moved himself closer to me before grasping my hip with that strong hand of his. I whimpered as his tongue collided with mine and he thre my leg over his hip, massaging my thigh. I laid back as he moved over me, battling our tongues for dominance. He was winning so far.

His long hair skirted around us, blocking us from any view, and he groaned. He removed his lips from me as I struggled to catch my breath. Why did his kisses have to be so amazing, so breathtaking?

"God, we need to stop." His face was still flush with mine, his mouth barely apart from mine. I buried one of my hands in his sea of hair, gripping the strands at the back of his neck.

"Why?" I breathed the words out, barely above a whisper, and he groaned, his jaw slacked. "Please, don't stop." I pleaded with him. I needed his kisses. I need him to touch me. I needed to feel his hands on my body.

I wasn't confused at all in that moment about what I wanted him to do to me. Though my lust for him had my mind clouded, I knew I wasn't ready for sex. Even if I was, I wouldn't do it this soon. I definitely didn't want to come off as if I was easy, but, God, I wanted him so bad. I wanted him to keep touching me and to never stop kissing me.

"God, I don't want to stop." He kissed me again, but stopped himself, groaning as if he was in pain. "I want to rip your damn clothes off." I involuntarily moaned as he said this. I didn't mind that he wanted me that bad, but I was definitely not doing _that_ with him. Not this soon, at least. "I know you're not ready for that, but god, you are so tempting. You look so sexy right now." I was glad that I didn't have to tell him that I wasn't ready. I wasn't sure how he could know me so well, but somehow, he did.

He trailed his mouth along my jawline with feathery kiss and I moaned as he did this, arching my chest towards him. His lips lead to my neck, his kisses turning passionate. He kissed behind my ear as he roughly gripped my hips in his hands, massaging them suggestively. I gripped onto his shoulders tightly as he groaned in my ear, playing with the edge of my boxers clinging to my thigh.

Suddenly, I felt him press his sex flush up against mine through our clothes. I arched into him and moaned dramatically.

"You feel that?" He whispered, his voice full of arousal. I definitely felt how hard he was. Hard and thick. He wasn't the only one who was turned on. "That's how hot you make me. That how sexy you are. That, right there, is how bad I want you right now." It was so unbelievable that I could turn on this boy so much. I hadn't touched him other than his face, hair, and shoulders, but like Angela had said, he couldn't keep his hands off me.

"I know." He let out a lustful breath before kissing my neck, nibbling on the skin, then sucked on my neck.

"You taste so sweet." He groaned before he released my kiss and his mouth left wet, tongue filled kisses to my chest, down towards my breast. I was moaning and writhing beneath him the whole way.

I never wanted him to stop.

He pulled my cami down past my black bra, kissing around the silk material that encased my breasts. I moaned as I gripped onto his hair, wiggling my hips against his. He had me thoroughly aroused from his touch and, god, that glorious mouth of his. He ran his tongue along the rim of my bra and I whimpered from the sensation. My mind was fogged and my head was swirling. A tingling sensation covered my chest, anticipation aching within my gut.

His thumb teased the skin beneath the front clasp on my bra as I whimpered from the feel of his tongue teasing the rim of my bra, switching over to my other breast.

"Can I?" He asked with a heavy, hungry voice and I clutched his strands hard.

He was going to drive me crazy with how he was pleasurably torturing me.

"Oh, yes." I mewled as he groaned. With a flick of his finger, my breasts were free, bouncing out of their confinements. Forcing my cami under my free tits, he pushed my bra open to reveal me.

"Thank God." I was nervous, but he pushed that away when he ran his tongue over the alabaster skin of my right breast, teasing the edge of my areola. My toes curled with anticipation and my gut tightened. I never knew you could be so aroused, wanting to throw caution and how you weren't ready for sex out the window. How was he doing this to me?

He flattened his tongue, running it across my nipple once, twice, then took the appendage in his mouth. As he did this, he pressed his hips harder against mine, gyrating himself against my core. Throwing my head back, I arched towards him and moaned aloud. My nipple pebbled as he sucked and licked it.

"Oh, my god." The words involuntarily slipped through my lips as he groaned. He continued how he was, thrusting, sucking, and biting, as I tightened my grip on his hair and my foot unconsciously smoothed up the back of his leg.

"Bella!" We heard my name being called from the hall. We both cursed, he separated himself from me, and I rushed to redo my bra. He moved to the side of the bed that he had been previous occupying and laid on his stomach, more than likely to hide the large erection he was sporting. I looked around the room in a panic, making sure there was nothing around us that would look suspicious.

The door opened quickly and I saw a very drowsy Charlie on the other side, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, Dad! I thought you were sleeping?" He nodded to my rushed, panting response.

"Yeah, I was. I was just wondering where you were at." He still slurred and I hoped he was too drunk to catch onto how hard I was breath, how tangled my hair was, or the awkward position Jacob had himself in.

"We were about to go to bed. It is a school night, you know?" He nodded then looked at me confused.

"Goodnight." He went to leave and then turned back to me, gazing at me perplexed. Please, be too drunk to see anything wrong. He pointed at me before grumbling. "That has to be the strangest shirt I have ever seen." He closed the door and I wasn't sure what he meant until I looked down. My cami was still pressed under my bra.

"Oh, fuck." I cursed to myself before fixing my shirt and Jake snickered next to me.

"That was a close one." I nodded as I laid down next to him.

"You think?" He smirked at me as if he was proud of himself and I rolled my eyes. "I really hope he doesn't remember that at all." Jake looked at me confused.

"Why? He didn't see anything. What was that comment about your shirt?" He inquired and I groaned, rubbing my face.

"The top of my shirt was still under my bra." His eyes widened incredulously.

"Oh, shit." I nodded while biting my lip.

"Yup. If he wasn't plastered, there is no way he wouldn't have figured out what was happening before he came in." Jake nodded before laying on his back. I glanced to see if he was still turned on and noticed that his hard on had disappeared. Must have been from the sobering confrontation with Charlie. I definitely wasn't aroused anymore.

What I was is tired. The anxiety from Charlie almost catching me and Jake in a compromising position, the arousal from how Jake had touched me, and the sadness I felt earlier in the evening was taking its toll on me. I usually didn't go to sleep until close to midnight.

"Come here." He extended his arms out to me and I smirked. It was nice that he wasn't straying away from me because of what had happened. I crawled over to him and moved into his arms, rubbing my hand across his tank top. He rubbed my shoulder before pulling the blanket around us.

"That's never happened before." I confessed and looked up at him, finding him gazing down at me. I could tell from his eyes that he knew what I was talking about. I was talking about what we had done.

"With you, you mean?" I took a deep breath and nodded, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I've never been in a relationship so I've never done that before." I felt nervous telling him this, but my gut told me it was the right thing to do, letting him know how inexperienced I was.

"Really?" I nodded and he grinned at me. I wasn't expecting him to be happy about my inexperience. I wasn't expecting him to feel any way about it. "You haven't even just been on a date?" He asked and I squinted. I didn't want to remember what had happened to me. I wished I was lucky enough not to know or for it to never have happened.

"Only one." I whispered and I was sure he noticed how traumatized I was by this.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure you want to hear that." I felt his hand tuck my hair behind my ear before he turned towards me.

"Come on, Bells. You can talk to me." I gulped and nodded. The pet name he used for me relaxed me and helped me tell him what had happened to me.

"It was when I was fourteen, back at my old school in Phoenix." I confessed as he held me close. I hid my face in his chest and clung to his warmth for strength. "I didn't really have any friends and most guys at my old school avoided me like the plague….except for one." I focused on his hands, rubbing up and down my back, as he listened closely to my terrible story. "His name was Jaxon Hughes.

"I didn't like him or anything. I didn't even have any classes with him. One day, he just started following me around and asking me out a million times in a hundred different ways and tons of places. I thought it was just weird, how he would run into me at the store, at school, at the park, etc. He just seemed to pop up everywhere. After a while, I just gave in. I figured he wasn't going to stop asking me out until I went out with him.

"I didn't know much about him, just that he was a senior and on the school wrestling team. That was it.

"He took me to the park. Just a nice little picnic kind of thing." I looked up to Jake and he gave me an encouraging smile before stroking my hair. I relaxed back against his shoulder before continuing my tale. "We talked for a long time about a bunch of stuff. I thought it would be nice if once it was over that maybe me and him could just be friends, but the possibility of that was taken away by...what he did." I struggled with my words, but I knew I had to get it out. "We were in the middle of talking about his friends when I blacked out. My mind was a complete blank for a while, nothing, but darkness and silence. I didn't know what had happened, but I thought for a bit that maybe I had died suddenly. I didn't know how long I was out because it felt like forever." I felt Jake's hands rub my back a little hard, probably from the anticipation of what I would reveal to him.

"When I came to, I could see and I could hear, but my body was numb. I wouldn't have been able to feel it if someone punched me in the gut. When I opened my eyes, I could see myself in a mirror, lying on a bed with…." I paused and took a deep breath. I hadn't thought about all of this in so long. It hurt to think about how I had shown Jaxon an ounce of trust and he did this to me. At the time, it made me never want to trust a guy again.

Jake was different, though. I trusted him completely.

"You can tell me. What did you see?" Jacob asked with his voice low, a little louder than a whisper.

"I was naked and Jaxson was on top of me." I heard Jake gasped with shock, but I couldn't look at him yet. I would hate it if me telling him this had made him not want me anymore. "I doubt I need to explain any further than that for you to know what he was doing." I whispered before I continued. "I couldn't move my body, not even to wiggle my toes. I prayed that it was just a nightmare and that I would close my eyes and wake up. I blacked out again and, when I woke up, I was in the park again, but I was alone. There was just a note in my pocket from Jaxon. 'I had fun. I hope we can do this again sometime'. I don't even think he realized that I was conscious through part of what he did to me." I stopped my tale there and, instead of pushing me away, Jacob pulled me tighter to him.

"He raped you?" I squinted and nodded slowly. "Is he in jail or something?" I shook my head before looking up at him. He actually looked angry about this. "Why not? You went to the police, didn't you?" I nodded before averting my eyes to his chest.

"I was in the right frame of mind to know exactly what I needed to do. Instead of going home, I went to the hospital, told them what happened to me, and they did a rape kit on me. I didn't tell them exactly what I went through, just that I was raped. They contact Phoenix's Sex Crimes Unit. I explained to the officer exactly what I remembered and who did it to me. I showed them the note. I even signed a paper for the hospital to release my rape kit to the cops. Then, they called my mom.

"No one believed me. The hospital didn't even believe that I had been raped even though I had the bruises to prove it and what their report called 'severe vaginal tearing'. My mom didn't even believe me." He gasped as I looked up at him and he stroked my hair, sorrow in his eyes. I let out a deep breath. "They said I wasn't acting like a victim because I didn't let myself shut down. They didn't even open a case for me. They thought I was having next day regrets and just swept it under the rug."

"That's just terrible." I nodded and bit my lip.

"I thought if I told the school about what happened that they would at least make him stay away from me while I was there or maybe even expel him. Not even close. They did the exact opposite. They decided to punish me for making up those accusations against one of their best athletes. They switched my elective classes around so I had to be in the same class as him and gave me detention for a month." He gasped as I said this.

"Really? They did that?" I nodded and gulped.

"So, that's the story." I wasn't sure what else to say. He could just not want to try to pursue anything with me for what had happened. I wouldn't blame him. Who would want to be with someone who had been raped as I had or was as damaged by it?

"Why didn't you just leave? You could have come here and you wouldn't have to go through that anymore." I nodded and gulped.

"I don't know why I didn't. Maybe I thought I deserved the punishment because I was stupid enough to go on a date with him." Jake took a sharp breath before cupping my face in his hands.

"Listen to me, Bella." He spoke soft and with such conviction as I stared into his eyes. "That was not your fault and you can't blame yourself. He's the one who should feel guilty, not you." I slowly nodded and was surprised when he kissed me.

I knew I was stupid to think he wouldn't like me for being a rape victim.

My hands held his hair as I kissed him back, full of affection. He pulled out of the kiss after a minute and sighed.

"Bella?" I nodded as he pressed his forehead to mine. "Why didn't you stop me earlier if you had been through that?" I blushed as he asked this, the reminder flooding my mind with images of Jake pressing himself against me and kissing me so passionately.

If it wasn't for the fact that he brought it up in reference to my assault, I probably would have asked for us to do that again.

"Two years is a long time." He stared into my eyes as if he was waiting for me to expIain further. "It only upsets me when I think about. I'm not as scarred by it anymore. I was right after it happened, but not anymore." He sighed and pulled me into his arms. He stroked my back and I rested my head on his chest.

"I want you to know I would never do anything like that to you." I looked up to him and smirked.

"I know. I trust you." He smiled as I said this before tightening his arms around me.

"Good." I cuddled myself closer to him, entangling my legs with his. I felt him lay a kiss on top of my head. I was so relaxed, I started to drift to sleep when I heard his voice whisper to me. "I promise, I will never hurt you and I will never let anything happen to you, my Bella." I smiled as sleep took over me.


	5. Chapter 5

In My Heart

 **Chapter Five**

 _I opened my eyes and saw I was somewhere I had never been before. I stood before a traditional Native American hut, surrounded by grass and wildlife. I saw horses, wolves, deer, and rabbits running about._

 _Suddenly, a scream rang through the air and the animals ran away as if danger was coming. Fear filled me and I was worried for whatever woman I heard scream._

 _I pushed open the door of the hut and looked around. There was a copper skinned woman lying on a wooden table with her legs spread, her gown pulled up to her hips. I noticed the men that surrounded her, chanting in a language I didn't know._

 _This was almost as if I was in another time, stuck in the past. This had to be at least a hundred years ago._

 _The woman's back arched which showed off the large pregnant stomach she possessed before screaming again._

 _This poor woman was giving birth. That much was obvious._

 _Her skin was coated with sweat, her breath choppy, and her face clenched with pain._

" _Bella." I turned as I heard my name and found a man standing behind me. He looked like he could be a relative of Jacob's. Long raven hair fell over his shoulders, a wooden head piece covering the crow on his head. He wore what looked like wooden vest and a long loincloth._

" _What is this? Who are you?" I questioned and he held his head high._

" _I am the one called Taha Aki." I was surprised by the name and recognition filled me._

" _You are the chief Jacob told me about." He nodded before tilting his head towards the scene of the woman giving birth. I looked back and saw as she pulled her body forward, screaming louder than before as her child came out quickly followed by another._

 _The men around her took a step back as if they were scared by this. Both newborns cried and writhed with discomfort on the table._

" _Two! There's two!" One of the men cried out in protest as the woman sighed._

" _No! They are both boys!" I was confused by what the big deal was._

" _I don't get it." I said as I turned back to the chief Jacob told me the tale of._

" _Danger comes your way, child." He spoke in a deep voice, full of leadership and dominance._

" _What danger?" I questioned and he huffed._

" _You must tell him of my warning when the time comes." He was being very cryptic._

" _Tell who?" I asked and his eyes narrowed at me._

" _You will know when the time comes." He said just before I saw a man through the door, skin paler than mine, eyes red as blood, and lust deep in his eyes._

" _Mouthwatering." He pounced and moved faster than anything I had ever seen. He jumped on me and the last thing I saw was his white teeth, glistening with saliva._

"Bella?" I heard my name and snapped my eyes open, jumping a little. I panted from the anxiety of that weird, crazy dream before I looked into Jake's eyes. He looked drowsy and worried. "Are you okay? You were whining." I nodded and gulped before moving close to him.

"Yeah, weird dream." I was glad it was just a dream. That chief was so damn secretive. I probably would have slapped him in real life and demanded a real explanation. "Sorry I woke you." I said as his arms tightened around me.

"It's okay. I usually get up this early anyways." I glanced at the clock and saw it was only five in the morning.

"Why?" I asked and he sweetly kissed my forehead.

"My dad and so I can take a shower before school." He groaned and stretched his muscles before wrapping his arms back around me. I smiled as I cuddled closer to him.

"At least, you don't have to take a shower this morning." He chuckled before tilting my chin to look up at him.

"That means I have more time for this." He gently kissed me. My mind fogged and my body lead the way. I pressed my body against his as I cupped his jaw in my hands, kissing him back. His lips caressed mine in such a sweet, heartfelt way. My heart pounded away as his hand roughly massaged my ass through my bottoms. I moaned and felt his morning wood pressed up against me thigh. He released the kiss and both of us were struggling to catch out breath. "Sorry about that." He nodded towards his erection as his hand rubbed from my ass down my thigh. "It's really hard to get it to go away." I bit my lip as I softly moaned.

 _You need to make sure he doesn't leave that house without tonight being on replay in his head._ I remembered Angela's words and, though I was nervous, I knew what I needed to do. I swore I would take that advice and I wouldn't be deferred.

"I could make it go away." I whispered and his eyes widened as I said this, rubbing my thighs together. Feeling him had me all hot and bothered.

"What?" He looked surprised by that and I kissed him before making him lay down in the bed. "Are you sure?" I nodded before I moved myself under the blanket. I scooted down the bed and made it to his shorts.

My heart was racing and my nerves were shot. I needed to do this no matter how much it made me anxious. I grabbed the waistband and pulled his shorts down to his thighs. He sprung out like a jack in the box and I was surprised by how hard, thick, and big he was. I had never actually seen someone's penis before, but I didn't expect it to be so...wow.

I wasn't sure where to even start or what I was doing so I decided to start where I was most comfortable. I pressed my mouth to his base, leaving small kisses along his shaft. I heard his breath catch and his hips buckled towards me.

"Fuck, that feels good." I heard him and those words gave me a little ego boost. I flattened my tongue and ran it up him as he pushed the blanket off of me. I looked up at him as I swirled my tongue around his tip. He sucked in a breath and clutched the sheet in his hands. His jaw slacked and his eyes were heavy with arousal. "Put it in your mouth, please." He begged and I complied. I slipped his tip in, sucking and licking at the head. God, he tasted good.

I placed my hand around his base and started to stroked him as I focused on the head. I watched as his head fell back and he groaned.

"God, yeah." I worked to get my mouth down his length. Each time I felt a strain to get my mouth down him, I pulled back for a second before moving back down, sucking and rubbing him with my tongue the whole way. While tasting him, my gut clenched repeatedly and my core excreted my arousal. Maybe it was that he was in my mouth or that he tasted so divine. I wasn't sure why doing this to him turned me on so much.

I felt him hit the back of my throats and I gagged. I watched as he gasped, groaned, and arched his hips towards me.

"Oh, fuck, Bells." I wasn't expecting him to like that so much. I struggled with it, but I had to admit, I liked the feeling of choking on his cock. I held him back there and gulped around him again and again. He hissed as I did this and wound his hands in my hair. "Shit. You're so good at that." I moaned on him and started to bob my mouth up and down his length, continuing to stroke his base. I knew no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't be able to fit all of him in my mouth. "Stop for a second." I was surprised that he stalled me, but I took my mouth off of him. I string of saliva connected my mouth to his tip and I licked my lip.

"What's wrong?" I asked and he quickly stood out of bed, pushing his shorts down to his knees.

"Come here." I sat on the edge of the bed and he moved to me. He twisted my hair around his hand and guided me back to his impressive hardware. I opened my mouth for him and moaned as he started to thrust into my mouth. "That mouth of yours feels so amazing on my dick." He confessed as he grunted. He continued to gag me with every thrust he gave, pulling my face closer to him. I ran my tongue along him as much as I could and he leaned his head back, groaning loudly. "Shit, you're gonna make me cum if you keep doing that." He warned me. Didn't he realize that I wanted that? I wanted him to cum for me.

I whimpered as his other hand went to the back of my head, pounding into my mouth. I was starting to struggle to breath as his breath quickened into choppy pants.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum." I moaned and gripped onto his hips as he stared down into my eyes. "Do you want me to cum in your mouth?" I hadn't thought about that. I had no idea what it would taste like, but I wasn't going to make him pull out now. I needed to know how he tasted.

I nodded and he groaned loudly. His seeds spewed into my mouth. When they hit the back of my throat, I gagged, surprised by the taste of his climax. It was extremely salty, but also had a little musk and sweetness to it. I groaned and swallowed what he gave me, licking the rest of his seeds off of him.

"Oh, my god. That felt so good." He released my hair and pulled out of my mouth. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. I was sure he could see how horny I was.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." I spoke softly and he glanced at the clock before pulling up his pants.

"Lay down." I wasn't sure why he would ask me to do this. I just gave him a blow job.

"Why?" He pushed me down onto the bed and gripped onto my boxers. I gasped as he did this. Was he really expecting us to have sex this soon? After he made sure I knew that he knew I wasn't ready for us to have sex? After what I told him happened to me?

"I'm gonna eat you out." I relaxed a little when I knew he wasn't going to expect sex from me, but the prospect of him giving me oral sex had me nervous. "I can see how turned on you are and I want you to feel just as good as you made me feel." I couldn't believe this. He actually wanted to do this to me. I had no idea before if people actually enjoyed giving oral sex. "I wanted to go down on you last night, but I didn't think you were ready for that yet. Since you did just suck my dick, I know you are." Oh, fuck. I opened this whole can of worms on myself.

I had no idea if this was going to be something I would enjoy, but I was about to find out. I wasn't going to tell him no!

He pulled down my boxers and tossed them to the side before kneeling down in front of me. I spread my legs for him and he quickly went to work with no hesitation whatsoever. His tongue ran from the top of my clit to the very bottom of my slit. I moaned as he did this. I couldn't believe how amazing it felt.

"Oh, yes." I whispered barely above a breath as he forced my knees down against my mattress, pulling my lips open. His tongue flattened and stroked my clit over and over again. I moaned continuously as I arched towards him, whimpering from how good it felt.

I realized in that moment that this was where all the tension within me was. It was all in my clit and he was working to get it to come out and be relieved.

"You taste so good." He came up for air before he sucked my nub into his lips, sucking so hard on it. I threw my head back and moaned aloud.

"Oh, my god." I never had known someone could feel so much pleasure as I did when he did that. He pushed my knees up closer towards my chest and released my clit, teasing the flesh around it with the tip of his tongue.

"Shh, we don't want to wake your dad up." I bit my lip as I gripped onto his hair. I struggled to keep from moaning. His mouth was working me so hard, going in rotations between licking, sucking, and teasing my engorged clit.

"It feels so good. Don't stop." He groaned into my core as I arched towards him, moaning again. He flickered his tongue over my slit before going back to his previous spot. Suddenly, I felt him press three fingers inside of me. My moans became more dramatic as his digits slammed into me repeatedly, hitting my spot over and over again. My grip tightened in his hair as my toes curled. I felt the approach of my intense orgasm as I looked down at his head moved up and down, continuing his assault. "Oh...My...God." I panted heavily as I arched towards him. "Fuck, I'm so close." His tongue moved faster and harder against my nub as his hand hit me rougher and with more speed than before.

"Cum for me." He commanded when he came up before going back to his task. My thighs clenched against his head as I struggled to pull my core away from him. He was too strong and held me in place as I exploded in a raptured orgasm. I arched and moaned aloud as my release rocked through me, tingling my whole body.

"Oh, god." I whispered as I came down from it and he pulled back, panting heavily. I watched as he stood up. My legs fell to hang over the bed and I gazed up at him as he sucked his fingers clean.

 _Fuck, that was hot!_ He smirked at me before he grabbed my boxers and handed them to me.

"Now, we're even." He teased and I giggled breathlessly before I sat up. I was in a orgasm induced haze and I'd be damned if I didn't want him more for bringing me to the brink of the abyss.

I pulled back on my boxers before pressing my hands against the mattress behind me for support. My body felt weak from my first orgasm ever.

Gazing up at his face, I noticed the prideful smirk across his face as he had a teasing twinkle in his eyes.

"Satisfied there, Bells?" I blushed before averting my gaze.

"Very much so." I whispered, too embarrassed to look at him while I answered. "What happened to taking it slow?" I looked up at him and he seemed pensive before he knelt down in front of me. His hands took up residence on my knees as he gazed into my eyes.

"I want to because I know that's how it should be, but I have a hard time controlling myself with you unless others are around. Other people give me the necessary distraction to control myself." I bit my lip and blushed as I nodded.

"I don't mind the lack of control." He chuckled before he stood up, gazing at the clock.

"Well, it's now six. I think we should probably start getting ready." I nodded and he pulled me to stand up. I stared into his eyes as his arms moved around my waist. "I'd be an idiot not to want someone as beautiful and amazing as you." I breathed a sigh of relief from his sweet statement. His lips gently pressed to mine, dancing in sync with my own. I gripped to his elbows as I pressed my mouth to his.

I knew this kiss was meant to be sweet, but it was so damn intoxicating. It was breathtaking.

He slowly released the kiss and kept his face right up against mine.

"Bella." He whispered my name so endearingly and I softly moaned.

"Jake." I did the same as him. He was everything I could possibly want in a boyfriend, lover, whatever you wanted to call it.

"We should get ready for school." I nodded before I kissed him again.

"We should." I whispered back to him and he groaned.

"We need to stop, Bells. Just kissing you is all I need to get hard." I didn't want to stop, even after his warning, but I knew we needed to. We didn't need Charlie to catch us kissing or even just holding hands.

"Okay." He gave me one last chaste kiss before pulling away.

"I'll see you downstairs." I nodded as he gave me a sweet smile before he left. I smiled to myself before rubbing my face.

I definitely wasn't expecting all that to happen this morning when I went to sleep last night. I expected to be embarrassed of what we had done, but I wasn't. I would be embarrassed to talk about it, but it was amazing.

I searched through my dresser for some school clothes and found a pair of dark jeans, a maroon t-shirt, and a dark grey jacket to wear for school. I got changed for school before I headed to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and my hair before I decided to do something different with my hair. I was getting sick of it just being down all the time.

It was time for a little change.

I put my hair in pigtails braids before setting the braids on my shoulders. It didn't make me look different, but it was a nice change.

I left the bathroom and went downstairs. I found Jacob, Billy, and Charlie sitting at the kitchen table. Jake looked at me knowingly and I blushed before I went to the fridge.

"Everyone hungry?" They all smiled appreciatively and I giggled before I pulled out the eggs and bacon. Today could be just a simple breakfast.

"Need any help, Bella?" Jake got up and approached me which I blushed at.

"Sure, you can scramble the eggs for me." He smirked happily and I got Billy giving me a knowing look, like he knew that Jake and I had feelings for each other.

I really hoped he wasn't going to bring it up.

I was no fool. I saw plain as day how my son kept glancing at the hall after he came out with a little pep in his step. He had the look on his face that said he wanted to go running down that hall, but I wasn't exactly sure why.

I was a little surprised that Jacob had been so overly eager to get that truck to Bella. I knew something was going on, but I didn't know exactly what it was. I remembered how happy the two of them had been to see each other, but I thought nothing of it.

Bella had just come to town and it was nice that her and Jacob had become friends. I knew Charlie was worried about how his daughter was such a loner. She had made at least two friends in a week's time which said she was doing pretty good in my book.

I didn't realize exactly what was going on until Bella walked into the kitchen, a smile on her face, and looked at my son. They both shared the same lovestruck look before she went to the fridge.

I knew exactly what was going on, why Jake was acting so strange, why him and Bella had been so attached, why they both looked so happy this morning. These two had to be in a relationship and just were keeping it secret.

And we were _dumb_ enough to have them sleeping in the same bed! What the hell was Charlie thinking! I swear, if this girl comes out in a few weeks and says she's pregnant, I'm gonna shove my foot up Charlie Swan's behind! They were two teenagers who were together and slept alone in the same bed. What the hell did we expect them to do, just sleep? I wasn't an idiot. I remembered being a teenager and in love.

The first time me and my late wife were alone like that I couldn't keep my hands off of her and my twin daughters were conceived. I wouldn't expect my son to have more control than I did. I was only a year older than Jake when that happened.

I needed to make sure my friend was on the same page as me with this.

When Jacob got up and offered Bella help with breakfast, this gave me the perfect chance to talk to Charlie. Those two were too preoccupied to notice that we were talking about them.

"I think my son and your daughter might be dating." I whispered to him and he rolled his eyes, sipping his coffee.

"Bill, don't be ridiculous." I huffed at this. Charlie was stuck on the fact that his daughter was sweet and innocent. Don't get me wrong. Bella was a very sweet girl and the type of girl that would be good for my son, but I was sure she wasn't innocent after that night with my son.

"Look at them, Charlie." He looked over and saw them smiling and laughing together casually as they talked.

"What about them? They are just talking." I shook my head. Charlie sometimes could only see in black and white.

"Watch." We both went back to watching them and soon Jacob made some comment about something and she bowed her head shyly, blushing, before she looked back up at him from behind her hair, biting her lip.

Charlie and I both knew this face. This was a face that every girl gave a boy that she liked. This face would always make me putty in Sarah's hands when she gave it to me and I could tell that it was having the same effect on my son when Bella gave it to him. His arms moved around her waist and he pressed his forehead to the side of her head so affectionately. She giggled from this and leaned into him a little.

Yup, those two are definitely a couple of lovestruck teens. I'll admit, it was nice that my son finally found a girl he could be like this with, but this was a problem considering they slept together last night.

"Oh, fuck." Charlie swore under his breath then groaned. "I asked Bella yesterday if she was interested in anyone and she said no." I rolled my eyes.

"And I bet you made sure to ask about just the boys at her school, didn't you?" He huffed at me from my comment.

"Well, yeah. I had no idea they had even met. We need to have a serious talk with those two." I definitely wasn't going to let him embarrass them by doing it right then.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't, but not right now. You can talk to Bella and I'll talk to my son. We don't need to add further embarrassment by doing our talks together." He quickly agreed and we tried to ignore the two of them, but they were being so damn affectionate in front of us. It was like they had completely forgotten that we were there.

It wasn't over the top for public view, but it was just so damn sweet. It was so hard to watch.

I was sure my son had no idea the can of worms he had opened for himself by being so affectionate with his new girlfriend. Since my son had never shown any interest in any of the girls that Angela tried to shove his way, I never felt the need to have a sex talk with him, but now was the time.

I had Charlie stop at a convenience store for me, but I was the only one who went in for a good reason. I bought condoms to throw in my son's face once we finished our embarrassing discussion.

Once we got home, I stopped my wheelchair at the kitchen table as Jacob grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. I watched him carefully as silence filled the room, but I was sure he didn't noticed. He looked like his mind was somewhere else. More than likely, it was Bella on his mind.

"I'm gonna get ready for school if you don't need anything, Dad." It was now or never.

"Take a seat, son." He groaned and took a seat at the table next to me.

"What's up?" He asked casually and I sighed.

"We need to have a talk and, don't worry, I'm pretty sure Charlie is having the same discussion with Bella right now." His eyes widened when I said this and his body went rigid.

"What are you talking about?" I rolled my eyes at this.

"Don't play dumb, Jake. It doesn't work and, with your behavior today and yesterday, this talk is a little overdue." He still looked confused. "I'm not an idiot. I saw how you and your little girlfriend were acting in the kitchen this morning." He looked shocked for a moment. Yeah, you were caught.

"You mean Bella?" I nodded as I clasped my hands on the table, looking to him with a stern edge to my expression. "I don't know what you _think_ happened, but Bella's not my girlfriend, Dad. I would tell you if she was and I'm sure she would have told Charlie if I was her boyfriend." He shrugged as if he thought this was nothing important.

"Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes, son."

"I'm not. I'm serious. Bella's not my girlfriend. I like her and all, but I've barely known her three days. You can ask her yourself. Hell, ask Angela. She'll tell you the truth. She can't lie to save her damn life." I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness.

"Okay. Let's say I believe you, which I don't even for a second. What was all that about in the kitchen?" I could see the nervousness and embarrassment in his eyes. Jacob's face was like a damn open book. He could barely lie to spare someone's feelings.

"Nothing. Okay? There is nothing going on between me and Bella. Just drop it, Dad, alright?" I shook my head.

"You need to get to school, but this discussion isn't over. As a matter of fact…" I grabbed the bag holding the box of condoms and tossed them at him. He caught them as he flinched like he didn't think he would actually catch them. "From now on, I don't care if your going to school or out to the garage. I don't want you stepping foot out of this house without one of those on you." He looked at me confused before he looked in the bag. He groaned as he stood up.

"You are being ridiculous." I huffed at him. For once, he was acting like your average teenager.

"I don't think so. Charlie and I both know you and Bella had sex last night so don't even try to deny it. For future reference, we won't be staying the night over there anymore and, if we do, you won't be sleeping in her room. Anytime you are in that room with her, that door stays open. That includes your room here, got it?" He groaned as he rolled his eyes at me.

"You are taking this too far, Dad. There is _nothing_ going on between me and Bella." I couldn't believe he actually thought I would believe this.

"Right. Like I'm going to believe that at all."

 **so there it is. One embarrassing parent discussion out of the way lol you better love me for the oral lemon I gave you lol just kidding. Leave me lots of love.**


	6. Chapter 6

**In My Heart**

 **Chapter Six**

I sat in the garage as Quil and Embry strolled in. I had been on edge all day. My dad was being ridiculous. Yeah, okay, I liked Bella, a lot, and things got a little crazy this morning between me and her, but I wasn't going to have _sex_ with her anytime soon. I told him nothing was going on between us because I needed to get the point across to him that we weren't doing that, but his mind was stuck in the gutter.

I was perfectly fine waiting for that as long as she needed me to. I had already gone my whole life without it and she had been a victim of rape so I wasn't expecting her to be ready for it for at least six months after we _started_ dating. We haven't even gotten there yet.

I'm a patient man. I knew she was ready, but I needed to be sure that this wouldn't be just some fling. I don't think I could stand it if it was.

I could talk about anything with that girl. We already had so much in common. The both of us had already suffered so much pain and tragedy, but found a way to push through all the negative and make the best out of the cards handed to us. She was sweet, funny, witty, and she had this aura that just natural drew you in. I wasn't surprised in the least that so many guys just flocked to her and were trying to ask her out. I'll admit, it made me mad with jealousy that so many guys were interested in her, but I also knew it was completely unavoidable and out of my control. She was so gorgeous and amazing. I would have been surprised if no one else wanted her like I did, but I knew I was the only one even close to having her heart. This kept my jealousy in check.

"Hey, Jake!" I watched as my two best friends strolled in and sat on two upside down crates in front of me.

"Hey, what's up?" I tried to sound casual, but I was still on edge. Not only had I been upset all day because of my dad's sudden strictness, but that fucking blow job Bella had given me had been on instant replay all damn day long. It was amazing and, fuck, if the way she would look at me while my dick was down her throat wasn't the sexiest thing ever, I didn't know what was.

I usually had such good control over my emotions, but with her, my control was gone.

"What's going on, man?" Embry asked before Quil added his own little statement.

"Yeah, you've been out of it all day." I groaned and ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

"My dad pissed me off this morning is all." I tried to shrug it off, but I knew this answer wasn't going to suffice for these two nosy assholes. I knew they meant well. They were only trying to help and lend an ear.

"What happened?" Embry questioned and I sighed before leaning against the Rabbit.

"He thinks Bella's my girlfriend and got this wild hair up his ass about it." They both looked stunned.

"Why? Doesn't he like her?"

"Of course, he does. He just…" I groaned before I explained. "He thinks that Bella and I had sex last night." I confessed this to them and they both laughed. I couldn't see what was so damn funny about this.

"And you didn't?" Embry questioned with a shit eating grin on his mug.

"Seriously? You guys really think I would have sex with her after only knowing her for four days?"

"Uh, yeah!" Quil laughed wholly.

"If Ang had let me, I would have fucked her after only knowing her for four days." I scowled at Embry as he said this.

"Well, I'm not you. He only thinks that because he said it was obvious from how me and her were acting this morning." Embry looked confused and Quil looked at me knowingly.

"You were with Bella this morning?"

"Yeah, I had to stay the night over there. Charlie was too plastered to drive me and my dad home so we had to sleep there." I wasn't so sure what the big deal was. I liked Bella and, fuck, I was surprised that Charlie suggested for me to sleep in her room. I thought he would make me sleep on the couch like I did every other time I stayed over. I was little surprised by the control I had to not try to bend her over and fuck her like everyone thought I did. If I hadn't been constantly saying to myself over and over how she wasn't ready for that, I probably would have and I would have made a fool of myself because she wasn't ready.

"Wait, you slept over at Bella's house?" I nodded at Quil's inquisition. "On the couch or in her room?" I grinded my teeth when he asked me this. Fuck, if that question didn't remind me of her fucking mouth on my dick…

"Her room." Quil laughed aloud, clutching his stomach. "Why the hell does everyone think I fucked her just because we slept in the same bed?" Embry rolled his eyes at this.

"One, you can't keep your hands off of her. We saw how you were all lovey dovey with her yesterday. You looked like a couple that had been together as long as Angela and I have. Two, you slept in her bed, just the two of you, alone all night. If you guys really didn't have sex, I'm really impressed by that restraint. I don't even have that much control and I've been with my girl for two years, alright? If Angela gave me the looks Bella give you, I would probably pin her against the damn wall _in front_ of her mom." I was a little unsure about his comment.

"What looks are you talking about?" I questioned and he rolled his eyes.

"You know the look I'm talking about. The whole 'I'm gonna hide behind my hair and blush like crazy for no reason whatsoever' thing she does. That's why everyone thinks you guys are an item. I'm sure everyone who thinks you guys are together has seen that look on her face. Some chicks have control over giving that look, but most don't. That look drives most guys crazy. I'm a little surprised you didn't fuck her with how she has been constantly giving you that look." That look did drive me insane. God, it was just so sexy when she did that. I loved how she looked so innocent when she gave me that look.

"I'm not expecting that anytime soon and that's even _if_ we start dating." And that was a big if. I didn't know if while I'm taking my time getting to know her better that some guy isn't going to steal her heart away. It could happen and I would be devastated.

"Why?" Quil asked with eyes narrowed.

"I can't tell you. It's her secret to tell if she wants to." Embry just rolled his eyes at me. I wanted to honor Bella's privacy. She didn't deserve to have herself gossiped about or what that dickhead did to her.

"Come on, man. We aren't going to say anything. What happens or is said in the Taj Mahal stays here. Plus, we are just trying to help you here." I knew he was, but it still felt weird talking about it.

"I shouldn't say anything."

"Jake, Angela is her friend. I'm probably going to hear about it anyways." Embry shrugged it off as no big deal and I caved.

"Fine!" I snapped and groaned. "Back when she lived in Arizona with her mom?" Embry nodded and I sighed. "Some asshole at her school raped her." I pushed it out and their eyes widened.

"What?" Quil gasped.

"I didn't want to believe it, but her behavior sometimes matched up with what she was saying. Sometimes, she would just flinch when someone spoke or pull herself away if someone touched her at the wrong time. She said it doesn't mess with her anymore, but I know different. I could see it does and she was in tears when she told me about what happened to her. I wanted to track that asshole down and beat him to a pulp for what he did to her." My anger was getting the better of me and I had to take a deep breath to regain control over myself.

"Oh, wow. Okay, has she done anything at all that would suggest that she wouldn't make you wait for awhile for that?" Embry asked and my thoughts instantly went to her mouth on my dick. Fuck, why couldn't I keep my mind off of that? Quil started laughing as he looked at me and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What is so funny?"

"The look on your face said that she has done something to you that says she won't make you wait long at all. You looked like you were thinking about the best sex dream ever." I groaned and adjusted my erection in my pants.

"I wasn't expecting it at all." I confessed and they listened silently to me. "We fooled around last night, but nothing too big." I sugarcoated this for my own privacy. I definitely didn't want Quil asking me about Bella's amazing breasts. "This morning we got up pretty early and um…" I had to wiggle where I stood from how unbelievable it was when she offered to get rid of my morning wood.

"And what?" Embry asked and I groaned.

"She sucked me off, alright?" I really didn't want to tell them about this. It felt private, like it should just be between me and Bella, but I was still reeling and I couldn't get that image of her out of my head.

"What?" Quil laughed aloud as I scowled at him.

"Bella gave you head?" Embry looked at me amazed. Yeah, I knew that feeling. I was in shock for a minute when she offered to relieve me. "Hold on a second. Was this before or after she told you about what that guy did to her?" My hard on was a thing of the past and I was full of anger. This girl was so amazing. I didn't understand why someone would do what he did to her.

"After." I kept my answer short and Quil laughed.

"Shit, you're not going to have to wait long at all for that girl to be begging you to fuck her." I didn't know why this was so amusing to him or how he came to this conclusion.

"Why would you say that?"

"Dude, I know you don't have experience in that area, but I've known a lot of high school girls who would rather fuck than suck a guy off. Most don't even know what they are doing until they get a couple of guys under their belt." I groaned as he said this. The reminder of how good of a job she did was flashing through my mind.

"She knew what she was doing. That's for certain." Embry laughed, clutching his stomach, as Quil rolled his eyes. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's just a funny little image. Bella sucking you off. It's funny." I scowled at him and groaned.

"Fuck you, man." I really was not wanting to talk about what Bella and I had done that morning. It was fantastic, but I wanted most of it to remain between us.

"Okay, so, what did you say to your dad?" Embry asked and I sighed, sitting on the ground. I leaned my head back against my driver's side door and took a deep breath.

"I told him that nothing happened, but he wouldn't believe me. He said I couldn't be in her room with her or her in my room without the doors wide open and, oh yeah, I'm not allowed to leave the house _period_ without a condom in my possession." They looked flabbergasted by what I told them. Hell, I was being punished for just liking a girl. I never knew any guy that had to go through that punishment.

"Are you serious? That is majorly fucked up, bro." Quil seemed to sympathize with me.

"I know. I would understand it if I had sex with her and he saw it or heard it, but all I did was hug her, that's it. I didn't do anything other than that and my dad is suddenly worried about me knocking her up. I'm not an idiot. I'm not going to do something stupid like that."

"Well, did you try to fight him on it?" I nodded to this.

"I did, but he didn't want to hear it. The truth wasn't getting through to him so I thought maybe lying would. I told him that there is nothing going on between me and Bella and there is _never_ going to be." I groaned and leaned my head back before sighing. "He's just overreacting is all. I doubt Charlie is reacting as bad as him, but I feel bad that Charlie is probably trying to have the same talk with her that my dad had with me." Embry seemed understanding enough, but Quil wasn't exactly the kind of guy who developed feelings for girls like me and Embry. He went by who looked good enough for him to try to get in her pants. I really don't get him sometimes.

Sure, having sex with Bella would be nice, but that's not what I'm after with her. When I say I want her, I don't mean in my bed. I want to be with her, but my anxiety over it and the fact that the future was uncertain, I struggled to get myself to that place with her.

The garage door suddenly opened and Angela walked in with a little pep in her step.

"Hey, baby!" Embry jumped up and welcomed her into his arms. They were so sickening how sweet and affection they were. Would it be like that with me and Bella?

"Hey yourself." I just sat by silently as I twiddled my thumb to avoid looking at the happy couple.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her and I looked up to see her smiling big at him.

"I got a ride from Bella. She said if I gave her some good advice that she would give me a ride up here everyday for the rest of the school year and, apparently, I make a good counselor." My face was more than likely lit up like a Christmas tree when she mentioned Bella.

"Bella's here?" I jumped to my feet and Angela scowled at me.

"She was. She isn't anymore. She was going to come over here and say hi, but suddenly, she felt like it wasn't a good idea for her to be here so she ran off to the beach. My best guess would be she heard whatever you guys were talking about in here and it upset her." Why is it that everytime I turn around I have done something to upset that beautiful little angel? Could she have heard me tell them about what happened to her back in Arizona? Shit, I hope not. She would never trust me again. "What were you guys gossiping about anyways?" She crossed her arms and Quil laughed.

"Jake's night with Bella and how he couldn't keep his dick out of her mouth." Angela's jaw dropped and I sneered at Quil.

"Quil, shut up!" I didn't want it getting back to Bella that I had opened my stupid mouth to these assholes.

"Oh, my god. She left that part out of the story she told me." Okay, so, Bella couldn't be mad about me telling them about what she had done to me because she told Angela some version of events.

"What did she tell you?" Quil inquired with a sly grin on his face.

"That Jacob went down on her." Angela grinned big at me and I groaned. I couldn't believe this. Now, Angela was bringing it up. Bella tasted so good. Man, just thinking about it made me want to track her down and do it again. "Don't be embarrassed. In her words, she had 'no idea anything could feel that good'. I am quoting her directly." That gave me a bit of an ego boost. I was glad I had pleased her so well. She definitely deserved it after the mindfuck of a blow job she gave me.

Wait, where is Bella? Right, Angela said she went to the beach.

"I'm gonna go check on Bella. You guys can hang out here while I'm gone." Quil laughed as I walked out the door. I walked down our dirt driveway and made my way to the road.

I hoped Bella wasn't upset because of me. I hated seeing her look sad or hurt. I also didn't want to mess up my chances with her because I was stupid enough to open my mouth to my jack ass friends.

I was interrupted from my thoughts when I heard a loud scream that sounded like a woman.

"Let go of me! Let! Go! Of! Me!" I gasped when I realized it was Bella's voice I heard. In a panic, I ran to the edge of the beach and saw two men holding Bella's arms behind her back as she struggled against their grip. One more stood in front of her just watching her fight.

I knew I had to do something, but I just wasn't sure exactly what to do.

Angela and I jumped in my truck as soon as school was over. I was sure that, if Angela wasn't with me, going to La Push after spending last night with Jacob would seem a little obsessive and probably along the lines of being a stalker. I did want to see Jacob today, but I didn't want to freak him out by showing up out of the blue. I was so glad I had made that promise to Angela so I could see him.

"You gonna tell me what happened?" Angela asked as she clicked on her seatbelt and I pulled out of the school parking lot.

"Nothing happened." I tried to shrug it off and she rolled her eyes at me.

"Don't give me that. You have been giddy all day long. Did something _sexual_ happen?" I bit my lip and shook my head.

"Not last night." I tried to be as truthful as I could be because I knew I was a terrible liar and had the worst poker face in history. I didn't even realize I said too much until Angela turned to me.

"Not last night? Oh, my god. Something happened this morning, didn't it?" I damned Angela in my head for being so damn intuitive. Sometimes I liked how she could read me like an open book, but in times like these, I despised it. I didn't answer her. "Oh, my god. What did he do?" I still didn't answer her. I just focused on the road. Cars passed us on the opposite side of the road as trees flew by. I was so used to living in the big city that it was a nice change to see green trees covering the outskirts of the street and few cars on the road towards La Push. "I'm not going to stop bugging you until you tell me. I'm probably going to hear from Embry anyway. Guys can't help, but talk about sexual shit with their closest friends." I was expecting that. I didn't really expect Jake not to talk to Embry about what happened this morning. I figured he had never done that before. If I hadn't known he had never been interested in a girl before, I would have thought he had a lot of women under his belt from how amazing he was with my body. "Spill, Bella." I groaned and finally caved. I wasn't wanting to talk about Jacob's overwhelming hardware in his pants because it would get me aroused when I was going to see him around other people.

"Alright, alright." I took a deep breath and glanced at Angela's face full of anticipation before looking back at the road, seeing the welcoming sign for La Push. "Jake...he gave me...oral sex." I cringed at having to call it that. It felt like so much more than that. It seemed more emotional than physical.

"Jacob went down on you?" She seemed surprised and I nodded as I bit my lip.

"Yup. I was just as surprised as you are."

"Bella, I'm just surprised that he didn't ask for sex. Not like oral, but _real_ sex. I was expecting that as an answer." I shook my head as I pulled up to Jacob's house and parked in front of the garage. I turned off my truck and turned to her to give her my attention.

"He said he knew I wasn't ready for that and I was grateful that I didn't have to explain that to him. He was just so….tender, but also...passionate….about what he did. I had no idea anything could feel that good or be that...spiritual, I guess is the right word to use." She smirked at me before placing her hand over mine in my lap.

"Bella, that's because his feelings for you are pure. Most guys in high school… they don't really know what they are doing in that department so they tend to stray away from it to keep from being a...disappointment. Most guys use oral sex as a way of preheating the oven." This last sentence just puzzled me.

"What?" She giggled before shaking her head with disbelief.

"It's a sex saying. You gotta preheat the oven before you stick in the turkey. Get it?" I flushed once she explained herself. Yeah, I got it, but I didn't want to think about that. I wasn't comfortable talking about sex. Hell, I didn't want to talk about it with Jacob and I was hoping for a relationship with him.

"Got it."

"What I'm saying is the fact that having sex with you wasn't a motivation for him going down on you says a lot when you look at it. He cares about you and he must trust you if he went down on you. It says that he is very attracted to you, emotionally invested, and he sees what you have going somewhere. That should be all you need to know that soon you guys will be together for sure." I smirked happily when she finished saying this to me. It did bring me comfort and faith in his feelings for me.

"Thanks." We got out of the truck and I jogged up to the garage door. Since Jacob hadn't run out of the house, I knew this is where I would more than likely find him. I was about to open the door when I heard Jake's voice from inside.

"...that there is nothing going on between me and Bella and there is _never_ going to be." I breath was ripped from my chest as I heard him say this and I took a step back. How could he say something like this? After what we shared this morning and last night? After how he had been kissing me and holding me all afternoon yesterday? My heart felt like it had been completely shattered as tears gathered in my eyes.

I was a fool to ever allow myself to believe that this guy actually wanted me. I felt sick to my stomach. I let him put his hands and his mouth on my body. I put his penis in my mouth and had his cum down my throat. I had let him do things to me that I never let anyone do before and all for what? So I could hear him say hours later how he didn't want me and how that wasn't going to change? It wasn't worth the heartache.

He lied to me. He made me believe that I was what he wanted. Angela unknowingly played into his little game.

I wrapped my arms around my chest as I took a few more steps back, refusing to listen to anything else said in that garage.

"Bella?" I felt Angela's hand on my back and I bowed my head. I didn't want her to see me crying. She had already seen enough of the torture this boy had already put me through. "What's wrong?" I refused to look at her. I shook my head in an attempt to will my tears away, but it was to no avail.

"This was a mistake." I whispered and her hand rubbed my back some more. "This isn't right. I need to leave." I stepped away and felt her push my hair out of my face. She saw my tears and gasped.

"Bella, what's wrong? Did you hear something in there?" I nodded and wiped away my tears.

"I don't want to talk about it." I begged her not to make me and she nodded.

"Maybe you should confront him about whatever you heard." I shook my head. No, that wasn't what I needed. I didn't need to cry in front of him.

"That would not be a good idea right now. I don't want to start a fight and that's what will happen if I see him right now. I-I'm gonna go to the beach so you can spend some time with Embry. I'll be back in a couple hours to take you home." She didn't argue, but she didn't say anything either. She just patted my back before I walked off, still wrapping my arms around myself.

I made it to the beach and found a large piece of driftwood along the shore. Slowly sitting down, I wrapped my arms around my knees, pulling them to my chest.

I had been so happy all day, humming to myself. I wasn't so sluggish and I had been smiling all day, due to how happy Jacob Black had made me by acknowledging his feelings for me. I should have known that the calm before the storm wouldn't last long at all. Happiness for me never did. I was never enough for anyone. Sometimes I even felt I wasn't enough for my parents, but they were two individuals that were stuck with me.

I had shared so much with Jake, stuff I had never told anyone and I knew now it was all for nothing. It never meant anything to him. I never meant anything to him. It must have all been a game to him. Maybe he thought I would stick it out long enough to be comfortable to have sex with him. I didn't know and I didn't want to find out what exactly was going on inside his head.

I wiped away my tears before staring down at my hands. I seriously had the worst luck out of everyone I had ever met. My autistic mother starved me, my workaholic father ignores me, the first guy to ask me out rapes me, the first real friend I could say I ever had tried to set me up with a guy who I think is the most wonderful guy ever, but all he wants from me is sex… I could keep going on, but I don't think I need to.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" I heard a masculine voice from near the forest edge and snapped my head in the direction.

I saw three guys approaching. All of them had short black hair, copper skin, and dark eyes. Each of them were wearing the same black basketball shorts and grey t-shirt.

I wasn't really sure why the tallest one was talking to me, but I had a bad feeling about their presence. Almost like a dark cloud was hovering above.

I stood up as they approached and they seemed to circle me.

"Um, hello?" I tried to be friendly, but my instincts told me to run from them.

"What are you doing here, sweets?" One of the men asked and I suddenly had a flash of my rape go through my head. My nerves elevated from this. This couldn't possibly be their goal, could it? It was daylight and they would be idiots to try something like that.

"Um, I'm just waiting on my friends to join me." I lied, hoping to scare them away. "They are just down the road so they should be here any minute." The man who spoke to me laughed. I sensed the danger and anger in his presence.

This was not good at all.

"Us Quileutes don't associate with pale faces like yourself. We stick to our own kind." Wow, if that wasn't a racist comment, I don't know what is.

"You obviously don't know the people _I_ associate myself with. Billy Black is one of my father's oldest friends so I would back off if I were you." I was done with being the fragile, scared little girl. I wasn't going to let these guys try to scare me off or hurt me. Being a cop's daughter, I knew some self defense, but I had never put it into action. If they touched me, I was not going to hesitate.

"Ooo, what a feisty little kitten." This man was starting to piss me off. I had been through enough torture for one day. I wasn't about to let him put me through more.

"Fuck you. I don't have to listen to anything you have to say. Leave me alone." I warned him with a sneer and the other two chuckled with an evil feel to it.

"Leave right now or you will just be asking for it." He warned and all three stopped circling, looking at me with a dark twinkle in their eyes.

"You don't scare me. Who do you think you are telling me to leave? You don't own this reservation." He huffed before he winked at his friends. Suddenly, my arms were pinned behind my back. I tried to wiggle free, but they were strong.

"I tried to warn you." He grabbed my face and ran his thumb over my bottom lip. Out of instinct, I bit him hard and he yelped before retracting his hand. "Feisty is an understatement, I guess." I growled at him as I continued to fight against his friend's arms.

"You can bank on it. Let me go." I fought against the hold they had on me and, suddenly, I felt a hand come in contact with my face and I groaned.

"That's for biting me." I growled as I looked back at him.

"Go fuck yourself." I fought harder against his friends hold on me. "Let go of me! Let! Go! Of! Me!" I protested and kicked the man in front of me in the gut. He fell back before he laughing, rubbing his stomach.

"You're a fighter. Good. I like that in my women." That statement was all I needed to know what he had planned for me.

What girl would have the shitty luck to be raped twice in two years? Me, that's who.

"Don't you touch me." He laughed and, suddenly, a hand swung at him out of nowhere. I gasped and looked to see Jacob standing there.

"Let her go, now!" He yelled at the guys holding me and they released me. I fell back on my ass in shock as they backed away.

"Damn, Black. I've had this bitch trying to beat my ass. I didn't need you butting in." The guy snarled who had been fighting with me this whole time. He jumped to his feet, rubbing his face, and Jacob looked angry. I never knew someone could look so pissed off.

"You stay the fuck away from her, Lahote. You are literally one strike from being expelled and exiled. You leave Bella alone or I will make sure both of those things happen." My breath caught in my throat as I saw the volatile man who had been messing with me shrink a little before standing tall again, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever, Black. Have fun with this little white slut." I cringed from the term as all three boys jogged down the beach further. I hadn't even realized that I hurt my ankle until that moment when I moved it out from under my ass.

"Are you okay, Bells?" I didn't look at him as I rubbed my ankle.

"Ow." I whispered to myself as he knelt in front of me.

"Come on. I'll take you to my house and we can put some ice on that." I shook my head. His hand touched my leg and I flinched back. I couldn't handle the physical contact.

On one hand, I was grateful to Jake for saving me from those creeps, but on the other hand, I didn't want to see him.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." _Liar._ He was wrong. He had already hurt me. He probably thought my tears were from those assholes who attacked me, but he was the one who gave them to me. "Let's see if you can stand on that ankle." I nodded and he took my hand, helping me to my feet. I could stand on it. The joint was a little sore, but I could handle it. I still couldn't look at him. "Bells, I know that must have looked bad, but Paul and his friends weren't going to do anything to you." He tried to reassure me and I finally looked at him. I'm sure he could tell from my face that this was the worst thing he could possibly say to try to console me.

"Oh, I'm _sure_ they just wanted to play patty cake with me." I spatted sarcastically and yanked my hand away from his. He looked saddened.

"You don't get it. They just….They don't think anyone who wasn't born on the reservation should be allowed here even just to visit. That's their only issue." I scowled at him as he said this.

"Oh, so, I was asking to be attacked because of the color of my skin, then." He looked really offended that I shot that back at him. "No matter what you fucking think, just because I'm white doesn't give _anyone_ the right to touch me and hit me, but you obviously don't care about that because you didn't even ask if he hurt me. You just automatically went to that asshole's defense. Thank you. I _really_ appreciate the concern." I shoved past him and he quickly grabbed my arm.

"Bella, wait."

"Don't!" I pushed his hand off my arm and stormed off back to his house.

I couldn't stay here another minute. I was sure after that argument I wouldn't be welcome anyways.

I saw Angela, Embry, and Quil hanging outside the garage and Angela ran over to me when she saw me coming.

"Bella, hey! You feeling…" When she saw my face, she gasped. "Oh, my god! What happened?" I guessed my face was starting to sweep and bruise where that jackass had punched me.

"Can we please go?" She nodded and put her arm around me, leading me back to my truck. I climbed in as she said goodbye to Embry. Both him and Quil looked worried as they saw me in the truck. Angela joined me after a minute. I busted a u-turn and saw Jacob walked down the driveway. When he saw me in my truck, he started jogging towards us. I sped down the driveway and wiped away my tears as we neared him.

"Bella, wait!" He yelled as I passed him and drove down the reservation street. My driving was probably scaring the life out of Angela, but she didn't question it.

"What happened? You have a black eye!" She inquired with a worried voice and a sob escaped my lips.

"These guys attacked me on the beach and one of them hit me." She gasped as I said this then cursed under her breath.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you go on your own." She swore and I shook my head. This wasn't her fault. I should have just left in my truck and vowed to come back in a few hours to pick Angela up.

"I'm sorry I cut into your time with Embry. I just had a big argument with Jake after he got those guys to leave me alone and I couldn't stand to be near him for another-" I was cut off by my phone going off. I was never a person to answer my phone while driving. I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to Angela without looking at it. She looked and huffed before answering it.

"Hey, Jake." I was very surprised that it was Jacob calling. How the hell did he get my number? I didn't give it to him. "She's driving right now. Can I take a message?" I was so grateful that Angela wasn't going to put him on speakerphone or something. "I will pass that onto her. Next time, just text." She hung up as I wiped my tears again.

"What did he want?" I didn't want to know, but I knew she would tell me anyways.

"He wanted to apologize and wanted you to call or text him when you got home. He said he knows how upset you are." I huffed at this.

"Yeah, I'm sure he is _so_ torn up about it." I slowly pulled into my driveway and was ecstatic that Charlie was still at work.

"Can I come in with you? I don't think you should be alone right now." I was going to ask her to anyways. I didn't want to be alone, either.

"Yeah, thanks." We went inside and I found a note on the fridge.

 **Bells, I have to pull an all nighter at the station. Maybe you could stay at one of your friend's houses tonight. Love, Dad**

Great. At least, Charlie wasn't going to see me crying my eyes out over Jacob. That would be hard to explain to him without causing a rift between the two families.

"That works out perfectly." Angela said as she read it over my shoulder. "My mom left town for a week and I'd hate to be alone. You could come stay with me." I quickly agreed. I packed a bag and moved my truck over to Angela's house.

"Will you please tell me what you heard Jake say when we go to his house?" She asked me as we sat on her couch. I sighed. I wanted to talk to Angela about it, but I also didn't want it to backfire. I didn't think it could really do more damage than Jake already did.

"He said that there is nothing going on between me and him and that wasn't ever going to change." She gasped as she gazed at me, looking for any sign that I was lying. I felt more tears fall from my eyes.

"What? That's not possible." I wiped my tears and shook my head.

"That's what I heard. I think I'd recognize his voice. I have no idea who he was telling that to." I sighed before leaning my forehead against my forearms, laying across my knees that were pulled up to my chest.

"Bella, there was only Embry and Quil in there with him. The thing is Jacob only opens up about shit bothering him to them. I asked Embry what they had really been talking about because they said it was about you giving Jake a blow job, but that just pissed Jake off when Quil said that." I looked to Angela as she went into her explanation. "Jake had opened up to them about why he had been upset when he got home from school. Billy had ripped him a new one when he got home from your house." Billy hadn't come across as a father that would do this. Plus, Jacob seemed very responsible for his age.

"Why?"

"Because both Billy and your dad were under the impression that you and Jacob had sex last night." I gasped as she said this.

"Wait, what?" She nodded and then it was as if a light bulb went off in her head.

"Oh, my god. That must have been what you heard. Now, what he said makes sense!" I wasn't sure what she was talking about until she got back on track. "Billy set down a bunch of rules for Jake for when you are around. He told Jacob that he couldn't go out to the garage unless he had a condom on him." This just seemed crazy. Did Billy really think I was that easy?

"Seriously?" Angela nodded.

"Jake tried being truthful with him, telling him that he liked you, but you guys weren't there yet. Billy didn't want to hear it and he didn't believe it. He was completely convinced that your Jake's girlfriend. I get where he's coming from because you guys are really affectionate and touchy-feely. Anyways, since Billy wasn't listening to that, Jake tried lying to get his dad to understand that you guys weren't having sex. He told Billy that nothing was going on and not to expect it to be, but he still wouldn't believe Jake." I was a little surprised. Billy had never come off as hardheaded to me ever.

I recalled the look I got from Billy when Jake had put his arms around me. It was a friendly hug, but the look on Billy's face was as if he was accusing me of deflowering his sweet little boy, like I stole Jake's virtue.

"That sounds so unlike Billy, but it makes sense. This morning, when we were in the kitchen, Billy was giving me this weird look when Jake hugged me." Angela nodded before sweetly touching my arm.

"Bella?" I looked to her and she gave a sad smile. "I understand why you were upset by what you heard him say. If I were you, I would be upset, too, but I think you might have heard it out of context. We both know how much that guy likes you. When I said your name, his face lit up like a Christmas Tree and he started asking where you were." I knew she was right, but I had to be sure.

"What makes you so sure?" She giggled at this.

"One thing about Jake, Quil, and Embry, none of them can lie to save their life. Because I'm dating Embry, I know all of their dirty laundry. Those boys tell each other everything. For instance, all weekend Jake was annoying the hell out of Embry by constantly bringing you up and he was freaking out about you not returning his phone call." I stiffened as she said this and sat up.

"What? Jake never called me."

"Yes, he did. He called you on Saturday to try to get together with you and hang out, but he said no one answered so he left a message on the answering machine. He would have called back, but he didn't want to seem obsessive or anything." I couldn't believe this. Jake had called! I was so self conscious about my feelings for him because he hadn't, but now I knew he had.

"We never look at our answering machine." I cursed myself for not doing this. I made a mental note to start looking at it every day to keep stuff like this from happening. "Wait, how did Jake get my cell phone number?" I asked and she smiled like she was guilty and happy about it.

"I gave it to Embry. Since we spend a lot of time together, I thought it would be good for him to have it. My phone doesn't always work. Embry probably gave it to Jake when he started his freak out." Angela teased and I giggled. I pulled out my phone and went to my call list.

I saved the number Jake had called from, hoping it was his cell phone, and sent a text to it.

 **Thanks for checking up on me. I'm okay now. I'm sorry I flipped out like I did. -Bella-**

"I'm gonna make some coffee. Would you like some?" I nodded and Angela ran off to the kitchen. My phone went off and I saw I had a text from Jake.

 **You don't need to apologize. I completely understand. I want you to know that I wasn't going to Paul's defense. I was just trying to help you relax by telling you that he wasn't trying to do what that Jaxon guy did to you. I hope you're not mad at me for that. -Jake-**

I was just glad that he wasn't mad at me. I felt like an idiot for going off on him like I did. The wounds on my heart were fresh. This was why I didn't want to face Jake when I was so upset.

"Who's Jaxon?" I heard Angela and I cringed. I looked behind me and she was standing right there.

"A-a guy I went on a date with back in Arizona." I tried to keep it simple because I didn't want to go into it. Angela walked around and sat next to me.

"Bella, I'm your friend. What is Jake talking about when he referred to what happened to you today and you dating this guy? You can tell me anything and I won't judge whatsoever." I had wanted to tell Angela, but I wasn't sure if I should. She said she wouldn't be judgemental, but it was possible she might be anyways. I decided to tell her anyways. After all, Jake believed me.

"He raped me when I was fourteen." Angela gasped.

"What?" Her face contorted with pain and sorrow.

"I didn't like him, but I went on a date with him because he wouldn't stop asking me out. Then, he raped me. I told Jake last night because he was asking about if I had ever went on a date with anyone. He was the first person to ever believe my little horror story. The cops, the hospital, my mom, the school...no one believed me." Angela's face fell with sadness.

"Oh, my god. I'm so sorry. I believe you, I promise." I was so glad that she didn't think I was lying, too. At least I had two people on my side.

"Thanks." I quickly sent a text to Jake before ignoring my rape and enjoying time with Angela.

 **I'm not mad. I was just upset and not about what that guy was doing. I was pissed at him for messing with me, but that was it. I was upset because I heard you say something in the garage that really upset me. I heard you say that there was never going to be anything going on between us. After talking to Angela, I know why you were saying that, but I just thought you should know that was why I was so upset. I hope you're not mad at me for that. -Bella-**

I didn't get a text back from him.

 **Thanks everyone for reading this update. Please, leave me some love and let me know your thought! Toodles!**


	7. Chapter 7

**In My Heart**

 **Chapter Seven**

I sat on Angela's bed as she laid out her makeup bag.

"Ang, is this really necessary?" I questioned and she rolled her eyes.

"Bella, you have a black eye. Plus, I want to see how you look with makeup on." I sighed and sat still as she told me to close my eyes. I closed them as I felt different sensations cross my face. None of it hurt, but it felt weird.

I had never had a girls night. This was new territory for me.

"Okay, Bella. It's done. Don't open your eyes yet." I sighed as she said this and I heard her shuffling around before the weight on the bed changed. "Okay. Open your eyes." I opened my eyes and found a handheld mirror in front of me. Who I saw in the mirror was different than the me I always saw looking back at me in a mirror. My black eye was perfectly covered up and my eyes were accented by light blue eyeshadow and mascara. My long eyelashes made shadows across my cheeks and my lips had a light gloss to them.

It wasn't over the top, but it made a big difference to the way I looked. I actually looked nice.

"Wow." Angela giggled before smiling at me.

"You were already beautiful, but I just accented your features." I hugged her in thanks and then the doorbell rang. "That's weird. I'm not expecting anyone." I shrugged and we went downstairs. I followed Angela downstairs and she opened the door, instantly being swept into a large pair of arms. I giggled as I saw it was Embry who instantly pressed her up against the wall and assaulted her mouth.

He really had no control over himself, did he?

"Oh, my god." He set her on her feet and she laughed. "What are you doing here, baby?" He chuckled and had a teasing grin on his face.

"I guilted someone into giving me a ride." Then I saw Jake walk through the door. My heart sped up as he looked at me. His eyes widened with appreciation and I blushed, averting my gaze.

I thought when he didn't text me back that maybe he was mad at me, but maybe he wasn't.

I looked up to the happy couple and Embry looked to me with a kind smile.

"Hey, Bella." I gave him a shy wave.

"Hey, Embry." I watched as Jake closed the front door and Embry grabbed Angela's hand.

"You don't mind if I steal her away from you for a bit?" I quickly shook my head.

"Not at all. I did cut your time together short today." He gave a grateful smile before dragging her up the stairs.

"Hey." Jake said as he approached me. I flushed and smirked at him.

"Hey yourself." He looked a little nervous and I thought it was cute. I was the one who should be nervous, but I wasn't. Not the slightest bit.

"Look, I uh…" He went to try to explain, but I already knew what it was. He wanted to explain what he had said to Quil and Embry in person.

"You don't have to explain yourself, Jake." He shook his head and took my hands in his.

"Yes, I do." I shook my head as I bit my lip.

"No, you don't. Angela already explained for you." He seemed a little frustrated. I wasn't sure if it was by my words or something else.

"Bells, I need you to know that what you heard...that wasn't the case. I'm not trying to mess with your head or whatever you must have thought was going on from what you heard. You're very important to me. Whether or not we...end up in a relationship….I want you to know that." I nodded. I knew it was a struggle for him to say that, but he wasn't the only one with something to say.

"I know, Jake." He smirked and I placed my hand gently on his cheek, staring into his eyes. "You're very important to me, too….I want you to know that….my feelings for you….they are not going to change….no matter what you tell me or what you do….I'm not going to just run off and not want you anymore." He grinned, but still stayed silent so I continued. "I know that's part of why you are wanting us to take this slow, but you don't have to worry about that with me….I never have had feelings for anyone before and I've been around a lot of guys….I just want you, no one else." I confessed. I knew he knew how I felt about him, but I never said it out loud until now.

"Same to you, honey." He pressed his forehead to mine and I gulped.

"I wouldn't have done what I did this morning if I wasn't sure that I just want you." He groaned as I said this and his arms moved around my waist.

"God, don't talk about _that_." The thought of him inside of my mouth made me want to do that again. He tasted so good and I wanted to put him back in my mouth.

"Why? Didn't you enjoy it?" I whispered to him and I'm sure my voice sounded like I was coming onto him. His eyes showed that was how he took it. His hands grasped down on my ass before he pulled my body against his. I gasped as he did this.

"Enjoy it? That was, God, so amazing. It's been replaying in my head all day. It's making me hard just thinking about that cute little mouth of yours on my dick." I moaned as he said this. God, it felt so good to have him inside my mouth. I was never horny or driven by sex, but the things Jake's voice did to me when he talked about how I sucked him off made me aroused.

"Is that so?" He nodded as his nose pressed to the side of mine, his mouth barely hovering over mine.

"I couldn't stop thinking about it and thinking about how delicious you tasted down here…" His hand reached down and he cupped my mound. I moaned dramatically as he did this. "I can feel how warm and wet you are." He groaned and I whimpered as I nodded.

"Thinking about this morning is doing that to me." I whispered to him and he groaned before he kissed me, wild with passion. I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck as he palmed my ass.

God, I wanted him. This verbal foreplay was just getting me wounded up and full of sexual frustration that I had no idea was even possible.

We were broken from our private bubble when we heard loud banging upstairs. He pulled back and I looked at the ceiling above us with confusion.

"What the…" I trailed off when I heard loud moaning and grunts coming from Angela's room then a loud screaming.

" _Oh, fuck, yes!_ " I covered my face with my hands as Jake laughed aloud.

"Are they seriously having sex right now?" He nodded with a snickered when I revealed my flushed face.

"I warned you about being alone with them." He teased and I nodded. "Why are you over here anyways? Just hanging out?" I shook my head as I placed my hands on his chest.

"Charlie is pulling an all nighter and didn't want me to be alone." His eyes darkened before he shook it off and gave me a big smile.

"Well, in that case, come on." He grabbed my hand and escorted me out the front door.

"Where are we going?" I asked and he chuckled before he grinned at me. Why did his smile leave me blushing?

"Those two are having their own private time. I say we go to your house and have our own private time." This sounded like heaven to me. I would love nothing more than to be completely and utterly alone with Jacob Black.

We made it to my house and went into the living room. I was a little surprised that he didn't want us to go to my room, but I was also grateful. I knew if we ended up having a repeat of this morning that I might end up saying 'fuck being ready' and let him fully have my body. I didn't want to have any regrets when it came to my first time of giving my body over to someone, but I knew sometime in the near future I would give myself to him. I just wanted to be ready before I did that.

We turned on the tv, but we weren't watching it. It was more of background noise. We sat there and talked for what felt like hours.

"How did Embry guilt you into driving out here?" I asked and he chuckled happily.

"He _tried_ to guilt me by saying that it was _my_ fault that he only got thirty minutes with Angela today." I felt terrible for that whole misunderstanding, but I didn't say anything since he already knew.

"Then, how did he get you to drive out here?" He gave me the sexiest smirk I had ever seen in my life and my heart skipped as he did this. He tucked a stray hair behind my ear before he nuzzled my nose affectionately. He was so sweet.

"Just by saying that I would get to see you. That's the only reason I needed." I smiled to myself before he gave me a soft kiss. It was over quickly, but it was enough for me.

"You really have no control over yourself, do you?" I teased him and he shook his head before giving me another one of those sweet kisses.

"None whatsoever." I giggled as his arms circled my waist.

"No wonder so many people think I'm your girlfriend." He chuckled softly. I thought about what Angela had said about Billy giving Jacob restrictions and it made me curious. "Angela said Billy gave you some new rules?" He nodded and suddenly frowned.

"Yeah, my dad has kind of gone to a whole new level of protective parent. He wasn't even like that with my sisters." This just made me curious.

"What were the new rules he gave you?" He huffed before laughing to himself.

"First off, he threw a big box of condoms at me." I had to laugh at this. We hadn't had sex yet or even entertained the idea of doing it soon, but his father wouldn't accept the answer that his son was still a virgin.

"Are you serious?" He nodded with irritation across his face.

"Yeah. When Rebecca started dating, he just told her to get on birth control and it was the same with Rachel, but he thinks we are dating and suddenly it's like he thinks I'm trying to impregnate you as soon as possible." I really thought this was funny. We were sixteen. What guy actually wants to get a girl pregnant at sixteen? No one that I've ever met, that's for sure. "His rules are that you and I can't be in my room or your room together unless the door is wide open and I can't even go to the garage unless I have a condom with me." Okay, it's official. Billy Black had lost his mind.

"That is just crazy. Is it just me or something else?" Jake shrugged before huffing.

"I know it's not you. My dad loves you...more than he likes Angela, really. Did your dad not say anything to you?" I giggled, remembering the red face Charlie had when he had a brief, private chat with me.

"Yeah, but it was very quick, to the point, and embarrassing for him. It just confused the hell out of me until Angela mention that your dad thought we had sex." I giggled as I cuddled more into his arm. He smiled as I did this.

"Really? What did he say?"

"'I want you on birth control ASAP.'" I mimicked Charlie's voice perfectly and Jacob looked to me shocked.

"That was it?" I nodded.

"He will probably revisit the subject at a later time, but yup, that was it."

"You're lucky that was all you got." I shrugged nonchalantly before giving him a shy smile.

"Nope. My dad is just much easier to embarrass than yours. He's probably just going to give me my 'talk' in little spouts." I loved how easy conversation flowed between me and Jake. It was almost like we had been friends our entire lives and nothing could ever separate us.

I could really get used to this.

* * *

Time had creeped by slowly and it had been a month since I moved to Forks. The five of us, Jake, Embry, Angela, Quil, and myself, would spend everyday together on the beach of La Push, in Jake's garage, or at Angela's house. When all of us were together, it was like everything was right in the world. On the days when Embry and Angela wanted to be 'alone' Jake and I would hang out at his house in the living room, working on homework together. This kept both Billy and Charlie off our backs about spending so much time together. They couldn't bellyache too much.

Billy had been wanting Jake to be interested in someone to enjoy that whole high school romance crap that most teenagers absorbed themselves in and Charlie was just glad that I had my own little group of friends that I hung out with regularly. Those two could deny it all they wanted, but it was like the idea of me and Jake being together was their dream come true. Like, if they could, a marriage would have been arranged between me and Jake.

I swear, I don't understand men sometimes.

I admit, I've been getting increasingly irritated with Jacob lately. When he said he wanted us to take it slow, I didn't think he meant _this_ slow. Considering how much time we spend together, I figured it would be a week or two before he asked me out on a date. It has been a month and I'm officially agitated. What was it going to take for this boy to finally say 'I want us to be a couple' instead of tip toeing around it?

I walked into the cafeteria to see my at school friends hanging around their normal spot. Angela gave me a hug before I sat between her and Mike. Mike had become really attached since he got out of me that Jake and I weren't a couple. He kept asking me out, but I tried to ignore him.

"Did you and Jake have fun last night?" Angela probed me. Billy and Jake had come over for the game that was Charlie and Billy's ritual. As always, they got completely plastered, but Jake was able to drive Billy home. Jake and I spent the whole time on the porch just talking like we normally would.

"Yeah, he's a good buddy." I replied as if I wasn't listening, but I was really irritated by how true this statement was. That's all he was, a friend. Jake hadn't kissed me, held me, or hugged me other than a way you hugged a good friend since that night that Charlie pulled an all nighter at the station. My faith in our future together was wavering every day that he didn't put on his big boy pants and ask me out.

"He still pussy footing around?" I nodded as I dropped my backpack on the floor next to me.

"Yup. Can't make up his mind, I guess." I shrugged it off as if it wasn't a big deal, but it was quite the opposite. It wasn't my grades or my family that weighed heavily on my mind. It was Jacob Black who did and his refusal to step up to the plate.

"Hey, Bella." Mike called my name and I turned to look at him. He smiled sheepishly. "Hey, um, I was just wondering if, um, you might want to, uh, go see a movie with me Friday night? There are a lot of good ones in theater right now." Mike was trying to appear as if it was no big deal to him, but I could tell it was. I didn't know what it was about me that had nearly every guy I have met in Washington swooning and fighting over my attention. Even Quil had been trying to flirt with me, knowing Jake was the only one who had my eye. They had gotten into some pretty big fights when that would happen.

Thinking of Jake gave me a brilliant idea. This was the perfect opportunity to make Jake jealous. If he didn't try to stop me from going out with Mike, Jake just wasn't interested anymore.

"Um, sure." I heard Angela gasp and Mike smiled big.

"That's great. Um, let's see." He pulled out his phone, more likely to look at movie titles, when Angela grabbed my arm.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" She dragged me away from the table before turning to me. "What are you doing? You barely even tolerate Mike. Why are you agreeing to go on a date with him? You like Jake for crying out loud." She seemed very irritated and confused by my sudden flop.

"No one said it was a date, but I'm gonna make sure one person thinks it is." I gave her my mischievous grin and her jaw slacked.

"You are going out with Mike to make Jake jealous?" I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Nothing else has worked in getting him to grow a pair so this is my last resort and don't tell Embry about this being a set up, okay?" Angela saluted and I giggled.

"You are downright evil. I love it!" She hugged me and we made our way back to the table. I sat down next to Mike and he showed me a list of movie titles. I instantly found one that Quil had been raving about that had me intrigued.

"How about The Deal?" This movie was supposed to be this high action thriller about a mafia deal gone wrong. It sounded interesting and the trailer was really cool.

"Yeah, but that's an action movie?" He looked confused and Angela snickered.

"That's Bella's thing. She loves action, zombies, vampires, gun….movies with that stuff. If you put on a romance, she'll fall asleep." I laughed from how true that was. I liked to read romance novels, but the movies? That was a completely different story.

"Yup, I'm an adrenaline junky." I teased and only Angela laughed at my joke. Mike just looked confused then shrugged it off. "How about you guys? You want to go see The Deal on Friday?" Mike looked shocked that I asked everyone else in our group to join in, but he didn't object. He stayed quiet and I was glad for the silence.

Everyone thought it was a great idea to go as a group. I had to mention to Angela that it might be a cool idea to invite Leah and Sam on this adventure. I figured it would be nice to have more close friends out in La Push.

That was until Angela mentioned that Sam went missing two days ago. What could have happened to him? Angela thought he was probably hiding out because nobody was looking for him other than Leah and his mother, Allison. The council wasn't even worried about his sudden disappearance. It was odd.

"Looks like you're not the new kid anymore, Bella." Jessica teased and I was surprised as she pointed towards the door.

I was amazed when I saw five movie star gorgeous teenagers walk the through the door with such grace that it was as if they were gliding across the floor. All five of them sported the same golden brown eyes and skin as pale as mine. There were two girls and three boys. The first girl was tall and blonde like any stereotypical runway model and the other had short, spiky black hair, reminding me of those witches from the movie The Craft. One of the guys had shoulder length blonde, curly hair, another had short, black, curly hair, and the last one who sported curly bronze strands was breathtaking. Their looks were so different and yet so similar.

"Who are they?" I asked and Lauren needed at the chance to gossip.

"They have to be Dr. Cullen's kids. My mom's a nurse at the hospital and she said he was supposed to start today, too. They aren't really _his_ kids. They are all adopted. Him and his wife weren't fortunate enough to have their own. His wife is supposed to be an architect, I think." I nodded and stole another glance at them, seeing all of their eyes on our table.

"They are all staring over here." Angela looked and seemed suspicious.

"Actually, they're staring at you, Bella." This was just puzzling. Why would these new kids be staring at me? They couldn't possibly have heard that I asked about who they were, could they?

I saw the girl with the spiky hair get up. It looked like her siblings were scolding her for a moment before she rolled her eyes, made a quick retort, and skipped over to us.

The first bell rang as she made it over to us and I stood up, grabbing my bag.

"Hi, Bella!" I was very surprised that this girl, who I had never met before, knew my name.

"Um, hi?" She seemed very upbeat and giddy.

"I'm Alice Cullen. I just wanted to come introduce myself. I can tell we are going to be great friends." She hugged me and I was shocked by how cold she was. It wasn't that cold out today so why was this girl freezing?

"Oh, okay." She smiled big and skipped off, back to her family.

"That was a little weird." I nodded as Angela said this. We started to walk off to class.

"You're telling me." Angela giggled and suddenly, I felt a cold hand on my arm. My breath caught and I turned to whoever touched me. I saw the eyes of one of the male siblings that had been with Alice. He was the one with bronze hair.

"You're Bella Swan, right?" I nodded and gave him a kind smile. At least, I hoped it looked kind. "I'm Edward Cullen. Alice is my sister." Edward. That was a nice name. "I just wanted to apologize for her going up to you like that. Our family met your father yesterday and he kept talking about you." I nodded. This seemed understandable. Why did he feel the need to explain?

"It's okay. I was the new kid not that long ago." He gave a nice smile. Why was his smile dazzling?

"Yeah, my sister just always has a hard time making new friends and it's a new school. I'm sure you understand." I nodded with a small smile. I wanted to be nice, but I wasn't sure if my offer was the best idea.

"Well, me and my friends are going to the movies on Friday. Why don't you and your siblings come along? It will give you a chance to meet some of the other kids here outside of school." He looked excited.

"That's sounds great. Thank you for the invitation, Bella." I nodded as he started to retreat away.

"You're welcome, Edward." He walked off and I found my heart was pounding. What the hell was wrong with me? How did this guy get this reaction out of me? It wasn't even close to the reaction Jake got from me, but it was still more than other guys.

"That was actually very nice, Bella." I shrugged nonchalantly and we went off to class.

* * *

I sat in Jake's garage on a turned over crate as Angela and Embry snuggled on the couch. Quil was MIA for the afternoon, which was fine by me. Jacob's head was stuck in the engine of the Rabbit. He said he needed to do some maintenance work on it, but I wasn't sure exactly what work that was.

"Anything interesting happen today?" Jake asked, his voice muffled by the engine.

"Well, I'm no long the new kid." I made a joke out of it and he laughed. "The new doctor's kids started today so we got to meet them. They seemed nice enough." I shrugged it off a little and Angela laughed.

"Yeah, Rose seemed really full of herself." I couldn't help, but laugh. It was true. She seemed vain and she held her head high like she thought she was better than everyone, but she was still sweet. "And Edward, God, he just couldn't stay away from you, could he?" Angela teased and I found myself blushing. Edward and his siblings were the first people in Forks, except for Angela, that I didn't find annoying. I had classes with all of them and they seemed very down to earth.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I pretended to be oblivious to Edward's instant attachment. He was nice and fun to talk to. It wasn't as easy as it was between me and Jake, but still enjoyable.

"Oh, please. He was fawning all over you and following you around like a lovesick puppy." Angela oversold it and I noticed Jake stiffened. He stood up and looked between me and Angela, his expression unreadable.

"No, he wasn't. He's just new and doesn't know anyone. He was being friendly." Angela huffed.

"Friendly? Right. And that's why you asked him out." Angela spat. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to aid me in making Jake jealous, but I didn't want Jake thinking I was wanting to date Edward. That would only give him a reason to be jealous of me and Edward hanging out.

"I did _not_ ask Edward out, alright? You were there. He was talking about how Alice has a hard time making friend. I _offered_ for him and his siblings to tag along with us and our group from school to Port Angeles this weekend. If you call that asking someone out, then, hell, you're cheating on Embry with me." I teased and both guys laughed at this.

While they were busy laughing, Angela mouthed to me 'what are you doing?' I giggled and mouthed back 'I got this'. She nodded in understanding before smirking.

"Oh, yeah, totally. Bella is _so_ my lesbian lover." Angela teased before whispering something in Embry's ear. His eyes widened before he smirked.

"Um, we are going to head out for a bit." He quickly pulled Angela off the couch and dragged her behind him out of the garage. I knew what she was doing though I did not hear what she said to Embry. She was giving me time alone with Jake to tell him that I was going on a 'date' with Mike.

I really want this to work. I didn't know if Jake was really the jealous type, but I hoped he was.

"Anything else interesting happen today? Other than the new kids?" He asked as he grabbed a ragged, old towel and wiped the grease off his hands onto it. I giggled and shrugged a little as he leaned against the Rabbit.

"Mike asked me out _again_." He chuckled before closing the hood of his car.

"How did you turn him down this time?"

"Who said I turned him down?" I noticed him stiffen suddenly and I saw the disbelief cross his face. I didn't see any jealousy yet.

"You didn't turn him down?" I looked to me for a moment and I nodded. "Why?" He asked, his voice low. I noticed hurt across his face. I wasn't going to let this deter me from my mission.

"I don't have any better offers." I tried to seem unfazed by this, but I really wanted him to try to change my mind. It wouldn't take much at all.

"You don't even like Mike." He protested with a sad voice.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't." I was struggling to be convincing. Everyone knew how much I liked Jake and how much I wanted to be with him. This was my last shot. After this, I didn't know what else to do. "What's the big deal?" I tried to force a response from him. He was being so quiet, almost too silent. For the first time, the atmosphere around us was awkward.

"Nothing. When is your date?" Such heartache radiated from him. It was working. I could see that.

"Friday so I'll probably be busy all day." He flinched a little and nodded with a frown.

"I'll be back in a minute." He slowly jogged out of the garage and I smiled to myself.

It was working. I knew it was, but it still made me sad that I was hurting Jake. I wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't fighting me so hard on us being together. If this didn't work, I vowed I would give up on Jacob Black for good.

 **Another chapter out, yay! So, tell me, what do you think? Is it going to work? Will it make Jake jealous and beg for her not to go out with Mike? Do you think it won't work and Bella will just wash her hands of him? Let me know your thoughts. Leave me some love!**


	8. Chapter 8

In My Heart

 **Chapter Eight**

Jake had barely said a word to me since I told him about going out with Mike. I knew he was hurting, but I wouldn't have had to go this way if he would just step up and ask me out himself. Even just tell me that he was ready would be good enough for me.

I had an idea that would push this even further. I needed to push Jake as far as I could and this would do it.

My plan was to invite Jake and Embry to the little outing. They would surely like the movie, but that wasn't the point. The point was for Jacob to see me with someone else, for him to see that I did have other offers besides him. I know most would think this was cruel, but I was desperate.

It was Thursday and this was my last chance to make this work.

Angela and I went to the Jake's garage, but he wasn't there, just Embry was.

"Hey, where's Jake?" He groaned and scowled at me.

"What do you care?" Embry was always so happy and upbeat. I didn't understand the sudden callous attitude.

"What?" He walked over, Angela looking worried, and Embry shoved me a little.

"You don't give two shits about him and you've just been playing him." I stumbled and fell onto my ass. That really hurt. Why was Embry doing this? He was never like this.

"Embry Call, what the hell is wrong with you?" Angela shoved Embry's arm before moving to me. She tried to help me up, but my hip was hurt pretty bad. When I fell, I banged into some tool that I wasn't sure what it was.

"Stay out of this, Ang! I don't care if she's your friend. She broke my friend's fucking heart and I deserve a fucking explanation." Tears filled my eyes when he said I broke Jake's heart. Was this true? I knew this would hurt him, but I didn't think it would be that bad.

"I didn't do anything. I thought you were my friend, too, Embry." I had a hard time speaking above a whisper. For once, Embry wasn't this sweet, kind boy that my best friend was in love with. He was intimidating, strong, powerful, and something dark was lingering in his eyes.

"You're friend? I only tolerate your sorry ass because Jake's stuck on you and Angela likes you. That is it!" It hurt that he said I wasn't his friend anymore.

"Embry, stop it! You're making an ass out of yourself!" Angela quickly closed the garage door. "Bella, I think you need to tell Embry what Friday is all about." Angela pressed me and I knew she was right, but I didn't want it to get back to Jake that I was trying to make him jealous.

"What? That's she's going out with that dipstick Newton?" Embry sneered and I sighed, wiping my tears.

"I'm not going out with Mike." I confessed and his eyes widened in shock. "A bunch of our friends from school are going to the movies together. I told Jake that to make him jealous because he's been pussy footing around us being together as a couple." Shock crossed his face as Angela helped me slowly to my feet. My hip still hurt, but my heart hurt worse. "I only have feelings for Jake, Embry." He had sorrow in his eyes as he struggled to say something. "But, thank you so much for putting me in my place. Now I know you don't even consider me your friend." I pushed open the garage door and walked out.

I knew from experience that it was a bad idea to go to the beach by myself so I went to Jake's porch and sat on the swing, pulling my legs up to my chest.

I really thought Embry was my friend, but apparently I was wrong. He just dealt with me for Jake and Angela. Was it my fault that I had done everything I could to persuade Jake to take that step, but ended in no change? No, it wasn't. I had tried and this was my last attempt.

If tomorrow didn't work out the way I hoped it would, I would give up, fold my cards, and walk away. I knew myself well enough to know that I wouldn't be able to handle hanging out with Jake, knowing full well that I wasn't good enough for him. My heart would be hurt, but maybe, one day, I would get over it.

I didn't even realize that someone had sat down next to me until I heard someone take a deep breath.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard Jake's voice and snapped my head to him. He looked shocked by the tears down my face. I looked away and wiped my tears away.

"You're talking to me again?" I spoke low and he sighed.

"I'm sorry, Bells. You have to know this hasn't been easy on me." That was the point. "What did you expect to happen when you told me you're dating some guy?" I huffed as he said this.

"Dating constitutes multiple dates. I'm not _dating_ Mike. I'm going on _a_ date with him. That doesn't necessarily promise a relationship." He was silent for a minute as I rubbed away more tears. "Why would it even matter to you?" I pressed and he groaned.

"You know why it does." I huffed at him fakely, but I was sure he didn't get that I was acting.

"No, I don't because I sat around for a month waiting for you to ask me out and you didn't. I decide to go on a date with someone else because you wouldn't ask me and you don't speak to me for three days. You are throwing out mixed signals and it's giving me whiplash for fuck sakes." I pushed myself off the swing and went back towards the garage. Once I reached the truck, I heard a screaming match going on between Angela and Embry. Woah! Those two never fight, ever.

"Angela, wait!" I heard Embry say as Angela stormed out towards the passenger side of my truck.

"Fuck you, Embry!" She flipped him the finger and his expression was blank as both of us got in the truck.

"What was that?" I asked as I turned my truck around. Angela looked livid and this face did not lift.

"Setting the stage. We thought you were Jake." Once we were past the porch, she started laughing wholeheartedly.

"Setting the stage?" She nodded before smiling at me.

"Yup. That's what I call a fake break up scene. I think we did pretty good, don't you?" I rolled my eyes as she said this.

"Why would you do that?" She rolled her eyes before turning towards me.

"Embry is going to drag Jacob to the theater under the premise of distracting Embry from his breakup." I swear, those two were downright evil.

"You mean on Friday?" She nodded.

"He felt like shit for what he said to you and he wanted to help you out as a way of making it up to you. He does think of you as a friend, but Embry has been known to say shit he doesn't mean when he's mad. I've learned not to take shit to heart that he says when he is like that." Okay, Embry was officially forgiven. "What were you and Jake talking about?" I rolled my eyes.

"He's been ignoring me for three days because of how _hard_ it is that I'm going on a date with someone else." I huffed at Jake's stupidity.

"Hell, you have been more patient than most girls. He's lucky you have been waiting around this long." I nodded. I knew I had been waiting too damn long.

"If this doesn't work, that's it. I will be throwing in the towel. I know myself well enough to know that it would be a daily torture to be his friend when he can't get past whatever is the reason why he won't man up." Her eyes widened when I said this and moved closer to me.

"Are you saying that if he doesn't man up tomorrow that you won't be his friend anymore either?" I nodded.

"He can either have all of me or none of me. He can't have his cake and eat it, too." Angela agreed with a nod of her head, but didn't say anything more.

Edward said that him and his family would meet us at the movies which would be nice. Him and Emmett were very fun company, but Rosalie seemed a little clingy. If I got too close, she made the room between us. Alice seemed like someone who would be a good shopping buddy whenever I needed to expand my wardrobe.

Angela and I stood outside my house. She had helped me dress and get made up for this whole charade. I was wearing a knee length flown black skirt, white cami, a black vest, and black flats. My hair was curled and in a sideways ponytail, my hair lying on my shoulder.

She was wearing a similar outfit and she looked radiant.

"Maybe Edward is going to start swooning over you." I teased Angela and she rolled her eyes.

"Please. The artistic type isn't my type. Embry is my perfect guy." I nodded as Mike pulled up. I was surprised to only see him in his SUV.

"Hey, Mike. Where is everyone?" I questioned and he chuckled.

"They dropped out. Jessica and Lauren came down with the flu after school so Eric and Tyler volunteered to take care of them." This just made me smile. Hopefully, those girls took Eric and Tyler off the market. The less boys asking me out, the better.

"So, it's just us and the Cullen's then." Angela said and both of us got in the back of his SUV. I know Mike was disappointed that I didn't sit next to him, but I was planning to make sure he knew that this wasn't a real date to me. I needed to figure out a middle ground. I wasn't going to be affectionate with Mike, but when Jake was around, I needed him to get jealous which would mean me being affectionate with Mike. There was no choice in that.

"Alright. Let's get going to Port Angeles." Me and Angela cheered happily and this made Mike laugh as he drove. The three of us talked the whole way. Through the last couple minutes, Angela and I sang this song that was highly annoying, but you couldn't help, but sing along with.

"You have a very beautiful voice." Mike said in a very shy manner as all three of us got out.

"He's right. You do." Angela nudged my shoulder and I shoved back at her.

"Thanks." I quickly noticed Jake was right outside the movie theater in line with both Quil and Embry. All three were laughing about something.

We stood behind them and Angela smirked at me. I grabbed Mike's hand and he gave me a big smile though I ignored it. Quil turned a little and must have noticed it was us behind him because he laughed with a big smile.

"Bella! Hey!" Quil separated himself from Jake and Embry. He quickly swept me up in a big hug and swung me around. I shrieked and noticed Jake and Embry turned towards us. Embry sported a small smile while Jacob looked sad yet shocked.

"Quil, hi." He put me down and Mike seemed uncomfortable with how close Quil was to me. "What are you doing here?" I tried to seem oblivious. "Come to be my bodyguard?" I teased him and he laughed.

"Please, like I would go through the hour long trip to the theater for that." I giggled and noticed that Jake was staring at me with both appreciation and heartache.

"So, why are you slumming it?" I joked with him and he snickered.

"Helping distract Embry from licking his stitches." Embry quickly smacked Quil in the back of the head and he groaned. "What? It's true!" I giggled to myself before rolling my eyes. "So, what are you doing out here?" It was apparent now that Quil had been left out of the loop or he wouldn't have asked this question.

"We are supposed to be meeting some people here to catch a movie with." Mike was the one who spoke up and I went into a panic. That one statement from him could be enough to blow up this whole thing. This was to make Jake jealous. He couldn't be jealous if he thought it wasn't a date between me and Mike.

"Oh?" Quil replied and Jacob looked confused. "What movie are you going to see?" He inquired and I smiled fakely.

"Probably the same thing you are." I teased Quil and he laughed.

"You're here to see The Deal?" I nodded and he flashed a big smile. "That's great. Looks like we are going to the same showing then." Jacob suddenly looked irritated.

"Great." Jacob mumbled sarcastically and I really wanted to say something about his attitude, but Angela spoke up.

"Great! The Cullen's are here!" She announced. Jake and Quil looked amazed as I looked in the direction that Angela was pointing. I saw the three boys and two girls walking cheerfully towards us.

"Hey, guys!" I waved and Emmett and Edward practically ran over to us. Emmett swept me up in his arms and spun me around. I couldn't help, but shriek and protest from the overly affectionate greeting. "Put me down, Emmett!" He chuckled, but did as I said.

"Come on, Bella. Admit it. You just love my hugs!" He flashed a big smile and rolled my eyes.

"Not saying that I don't, but if I did say that, Rose might just kill me. She might just think I'm trying to steal her man." I teased him with a playful punch and he laughed wholeheartedly.

"There is plenty of me to go around. You know you want a piece of this." He flexed his muscles with a face that said he was just playing around.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say." I rolled my eyes and then looked to Edward. "Hey, Edward." He flashed a big smile.

"Hey, Bella. Thanks for inviting us. We really appreciate it." I shrugged nonchalantly, but I couldn't help the smile on my face. Edward was very nice and sweet. He seemed very old school. He didn't offer hugs to anyone like all the other guys did at our school. He just smiled and shook your hand if he liked you.

"Don't mention it. You just happened to start school at the right time." I tried be encouraging. I didn't want him and his family to feel unwelcome or out of place.

"Aw, Bella. You know Edward only came to see your pretty face." Emmett teased and I flushed at this. Edward was handsome, funny, and very charming, but I had my eye on someone very different from him.

"Gee, thanks, Em." Edward groaned.

"Don't mention it, bro." Emmett teased and then nodded his head towards the three Quileutes that stood close by. "Friends of yours?" I glanced and nodded. I noticed Jake looked between me and Edward suspiciously, but there was no reason for it. I didn't have eyes for Edward, only Jacob.

"This is Quil Ateara, Embry Call, and Jacob Black." I pointed them out and the three nodded with a semi stoic look about them. What was up with them suddenly? "These are the Cullen's. Emmett, Edward, Jasper, Alice, and Rosalie. They transferred to Forks on Monday from Alaska." The Cullen's were kind, giving sweet smiles and nice waves to the three Native American boys there.

"Um, we can't stay long." Edward pushed out and I looked at him shell-shocked. This was sudden. He had seemed so happy that we were all going to hang out outside of school and now they had to leave? This was fishy. "My dad texted on the way here and needs us at home. We can stay and hang out before the movie, but we won't be able to be here that long. Sorry, Bella." This just sucked.

I had wanted there to be more people around. There would be less likely that Mike would try to make any moves on me. I knew what would happen now. Angela and Embry would run off with the cover of trying to talk things out and Quil would go off in a means of trying to find some girl to hook up with. That would literally leave me, Jake, and Mike, alone. This was going to be awkward and difficult. I wanted Jake to be jealous, but I also didn't want Mike touching me or think touching me was okay.

I took a deep breath, nodded, and we bought our tickets. I was shocked to see a small game room in the theater. I had been to the movies where there were game rooms, but I didn't think Port Angeles was a big enough city for there to be one of these in a theater. I guess I was wrong.

Jake, Quil, Embry, Mike, and Angela stood over in one corner while Emmett and Edward dragged me over to the game room where there was a pool table and a bunch of arcade games. The others sat in a booth inside of the game room and watched as Emmett sat the balls right.

"I have no idea how to play pool." I admitted and Emmett laughed.

"No worries. Edward can teach you. That will surely rile Black up." Emmett winked and I gasped.

"What?" Edward laughed and uncharacteristically threw his arm over my shoulder while he handed me a pool stick.

"Bella, it's clear as day that you don't like Mike yet you agreed to go out with him. We saw how you were looking at your reservation friend, Jacob. It's very obvious that this is a set up to make him jealous." Emmett told me his analysis. I really hoped Jake hadn't figured it out as quickly as they did. "Am I wrong?" I slowly shook my head, hoping Jake wasn't watching.

"He is seething right now." Edward whispered in my ear and I smirked to myself.

"How can you tell?" I asked quietly before looking at him.

"Look at him." I looked at Jake from behind my hair as he was now just talking to Quil and Mike. "See how he is clenching his fists?" His hands kept opening and closing, ever so slightly. "How he keeping swallowing over and over?" I noticed the Adam's Apple moving up and down on Jake's throat. "How his breathing is all choppy and his stance is very tense?" I nodded. He looked on edge at best. "He is livid right now. He can't stand the thought of anyone else being with you or anyone putting their hands on you. The fact that you are showing any guy other than him attention is driving him crazy with jealousy. He wants you all to himself." This was the reaction I hoped for, but Jake wasn't really showing that physically, like he was trying his best to hide it.

"Thanks, but I highly doubt it's working like that." Edward chuckled.

"How about we test it?" Emmett racked the balls to make sure they were perfect and Edward took a stance behind me and placed his hands over mine on the poolstick. He pressed his chest against my back and leaned me over the table. "Put the ball on the table, Em." Emmett sat the all white ball in front of me on the table before removing the rack from the other balls. "You want to hit the ball hard enough that it knocks all the other ones across the table. If you get a ball in one of the holes, that is the kind of ball you keep trying to get in the holes. If you knock in a striped ball, you go for the stripes. Got it?" I giggled and nodded. "This game is all about strategy. Emmett likes to cheat so I'll help you out." I giggled and nodded. "Look at Jacob's face right now." Edward hadn't even been looking in his direction, but I still did as he asked. I glanced through my hair and saw Jake was staring at us. Now, he looked like he was burning with jealousy.

Yes!

Edward guided my hand towards the end of the stick and pulled the stick back before pushing it out hard and fast. The balls flew across the table like a pinball machine, ricocheting off the fabric walls. None went into the holes, but it was amazing to see.

"This is a really old school game to play." I laughed to myself and Emmett chortled along with me.

"We like old school. Believe it or not, we actually have an Atari." I gasped and my jaw slacked.

"Seriously?" Edward flashed a big smile as his arm went around my waist. "I used to have one, but don't tell anyone." I flushed and watched as Emmett easily knocked two striped balls in a hole.

"You are solids. You need to try your best to not knock in the eight ball. If you do and you haven't gotten the rest of your balls, you lose and the game is over. Once all your balls are in the holes, you go for the eight ball. The first one to get all of their balls and the eight ball wins." This seemed easy enough to follow.

I noticed two solids next to a striped one right up against a hole.

"How about that one? That should be easy." Edward snickered and shook his head.

"I wouldn't chance it. You could get rid of one of his balls for him. How about here?" He pointed at three balls that were perfectly lined up to go in together and all of them were solid balls. Edward helped me line it up and I took a deep breath before snapping my pool stick against the white ball. It slammed into my balls and all three went into the hole together. I jumped up, shrieked happily, and cheered aloud.

"Woah! This is awesome! I think I like this game." Alice and Jasper laughed before Edward hugged me fully. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was putting on a show for Jacob to help me get him jealous. I was very thankful for his willing participation in this.

"See? It's easy and all about strategy." I laughed happily then noticed Edward stiffen. "Oh, no." He whispered so low that he probably thought I didn't hear him. I looked up at him worried and saw him staring at Jake and Mike. Jacob looked livid and towered over Mike. He screamed at him, but I wasn't able to understand what he was saying. It was scary to see him like that from my point of view and I was never scared of him. Mike looked like he might just soil himself. He shrunk and put his hands up defensively before backing away.

"What was that about?" I asked, not sure if anyone knew. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention to whatever Mike did or said that got this reaction out of Jacob.

"Michael made some nasty remarks about you." I groaned. I didn't think Mike was someone who talked bad about others behind their backs, but apparently I was wrong to think that.

"It's official. Mike is an asshole." Emmett laughed at this. We played through the game then Edward whispered something to Emmett. Emmett and the others walked out of the game room and exited the theater. "Where did they go?" I asked curiously before taking a seat on the edge of the pool table while Edward stood in front of me.

"Just setting the stage a little for one last stunt that Jacob will surely be watching. Afterwards, we will need to leave." I nodded in understanding and tilted my head a little.

"What is this _stunt_ you speak of?" I teased him and he chuckled softly.

"I'm going to pretend to kiss you." My eyes widened when he said this.

"Come on, Edward. You don't need to do that." He smirked comfortingly. I didn't want anyone kissing me except for Jacob.

"I'm not going to kiss you. Emmett is going to come in right as I'm about to. It will be just enough to make your friend a little….possessive." I really hoped he was right. "Tell me. If you like this kid so much to go through all this trouble, why don't you just tell him how you feel?" I shrugged a little, biting my lip.

"I have told him, many times." Edward looked confused. "My dad and his dad are friends. We grew up together. We have been through a lot of similar stuff. When I moved back a month ago, it was like we were connected from the moment we were reintroduced. He gets me in a way that no one else ever has. It's almost a supernatural connection because I don't have to say what's going on in my head and he already knows. It's almost telepathic in a way. I know that probably doesn't make any sense." He shook his head with an encouraging smile.

"No, it makes perfect sense. What you have is special." I nodded to confirm his interpretation. "So, why aren't you together if your connection is so special? You like each other, that much is obvious." I groaned before bowing my head.

"He said he wanted to take things slow, make sure that it was really special and not just some fling, but we have spent almost every minute we aren't in school or sleeping together. I don't think I could know him much better than I already do, but he still won't say that he's ready for us to move forward and be together. I'm just sick of waiting. I just want to be with him and I know he wants to be with me, but I just…" I struggled to find the words to finish my sentence without sounding like a clingy bitch, but Edward seemed to understand.

"You can feel it in your heart that he is ready, but needs the right push." I nodded with a small smile.

"You seem to get me pretty easily yourself, Edward." He chuckled softly before he stepped closer to me and placed his hand on my cheek.

"He's watching." I knew to trust it when Edward said this. I gazed into his topaz eyes as they started to drift and he leaned down to my level. I didn't close my eyes. If he got too close, I was going to move away. I took in a sharp, nervous breath as his lips were just above mind and moved back the slightest bit.

"Hey, bro. Come on." I heard Emmett and relaxed. Edward pulled back and gave my hand a small squeeze.

"I'll see you at school." I nodded and waved as he left. That was nerve racking. I definitely didn't want to pretend kiss anyone ever _again_!

I looked in Jake's direction and saw he was staring at me. He was very affected by what he saw transpire. I gave him a small smile and he started to approach. Slowly, he made his way over to me as I looked at the clock. We had a good ten minutes before we needed to be seated.

"They left so soon?" Jake asked and I giggled as he took a seat next to me on the pool table.

"Yeah, their dad called so they had to run." I gave a quick, honest response and he nodded.

"Seems like a long way to drive for a game of pool." I giggled as he said this.

"Wasn't their plan, but it was fun. I've never played pool before." He looked surprised, but laughed quietly. "I definitely wasn't expecting you to be here." He nodded.

"Embry guilt tripped me into coming. Said he needed a distraction from his and Angela's fight. Who knew we would be going to the same theater as you guys?" I snickered to myself before nodding. Everyone knew except for him and Quil who I noticed had disappeared. "I thought you said this was supposed to be a date between you and Newton?" He questioned and I shrugged.

"No, I told you he asked me out. You didn't ask me if it was a date. You _assumed_ it was a date." He chortled and rolled his eyes as I snickered to myself. "Mike asked me to go to the movies, I said sure, then instantly invited our school friends to go to, but most of them backed out at the last minute." He flashed a big smile and seemed more at ease. It was nice to see him happy again.

I didn't like making him sad. I hated knowing that he was hurting and it was all my fault, but he was unknowingly hurting me every day that he wouldn't just accept that we were ready to be together. I didn't know what could possibly be holding him back.

"Embry has been pretty miserable without her." Jake spoke and I looked to him before looking over to where Angela and Embry were pretending to argue for Jake's sake. I had to admit. It was pretty entertaining to watch, but also very realistic. "Do you know what that whole fight between them was about?" I figured Embry would have made up a reason, but this told me he left Jacob in the dark.

"To be honest, me." Which was true. They only had a pretend fight because of me. Because Embry felt bad for hurting my feelings.

"What?"

"Yup. Angela sided with me even though I didn't ask her to." He looked at me incredulously.

"Sided with you about what?" I looked to Jake in shock. I figured Embry would have told him about our little misunderstanding, but he didn't obviously.

"Embry didn't tell you?" He shook his head and I sighed. I didn't want to cause issues with Jake and Embry, but I wasn't going to lie to Jake. He would see right through me. "Embry tried to start a fight with me in the garage yesterday. I stayed calm and levelheaded and he didn't." Jacob looked like I just dropped a bombshell on him.

"What was it about?" I blushed when he asked this and tried to hide my face like always, but it was to no avail.

"You." He smirked for a flicker of a moment then his face went back to confused.

"I don't get it. How were you guys fighting about me?" I gulped before looking down at my hands. The things Embry said hurt my heart really bad.

"Embry was pissed at me for agreeing to go out with Mike. He said that I broke your heart." I looked to Jake and he looked sad before he looked to his hands, avoiding my eyes. "He-he pushed me, I fell down, then he said some really hurtful things to be about how I wasn't his friend and that he only tolerated me because of you and Angela." Jacob gasped before snapping his eyes to me.

"He did what?" He looked angry, a slight tremble going through his arm. What the hell?

"He didn't hurt me too bad. I just landed on a big wrench and that hurt. It just hurt more emotionally than physically." I was trying to calm him down, but it seemed that wasn't possible. He jumped off the pool table and I quickly followed him. Damn my stupid big mouth.

I struggled to keep up with him as he charged at Embry.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Jacob yelled as he made it over to Embry and shoved him. Angela looked shocked as I tried to grab Jacob's arm to pull him back.

"Jake, don't do this." I pleased with him and Embry seemed a little riled up himself.

"What is your problem?" Embry sneered before he shoved him back. Angela was trying to hold Embry back as I did the same to Jake. This was the last thing I wanted, Jake's feelings for me to cause a rift between him and his best friend.

"You, you're my fucking problem." Jacob pushed him again and Embry seemed to stumble. In a quick flash, Jacobs arm heated up, like he got a fever in a flash. "Don't you ever put your damn hands on her again!" He actually growled at Embry and he seemed to do it right back at Jacob.

"Jake, please, Embry didn't mean any harm!" I begged him to let this go. I wasn't mad at Embry. I completely understood. He was protective of his friend and he didn't have the whole story at the time. "Don't do this. You guys are friends. I don't want you fighting over me." I pleaded for this to cease. I noticed Quil and Mike standing off to the side, looking shocked by the arguing.

Jake and Embry _never_ fought or argued with each other. It was always Quil and Jake or Quil and Embry. Jake and Embry were always on the same level. I hated that I had brought them to this place.

"Bella's right. If she can forgive Embry, you should, too." I was so glad for Angela's words of wisdom. I noticed Jake relax and put his arms around me. Wow, he hadn't done this in _weeks_. It was bordering on possessive. "And you need to calm down before you pop a blood vessel." Angela lightly shoved Embry and he yanked his arm away from her before scowling at her.

"Shut up, Angela!" I could tell this was real anger. I never knew Embry to actually be mad at Angela for anything.

Embry stomped out of the theater, trembling with anger and fists clenching over and over again. He seemed very rigid. I definitely wouldn't want to be the next person to piss him off.

"What the hell?" Angela groaned before looking to me. "I'm gonna go look for him. I'll be back soon." I nodded and she slowly walked up the steps to the outside of the theater. I looked back to Jake and the anger was still clear on his face, but that wasn't what I had my focus on.

His skin was on fire. It felt like he had the worst sunburn ever. Being held by him was like standing up against an oven at the highest temperature setting. I had never felt such intense heat before in my life.

"Are you okay?" I reached up and stroked his cheek, getting his attention back. He looked down at me and his trembling ceased almost instantly. Just as quickly as it came, his temperature stabilized.

"Yeah. I just can't stand that he had the nerve to do that to you." I took a deep breath before cupping his face in my hands.

"Jake, he didn't mean any harm. He was just defending you. I didn't know how bad I was hurting you." I was truthful. I didn't know because he wouldn't talk to me. "That's not what I meant by are you okay." He looked at me confused. "Jake, you're really hot." He gave me a smug smile and I blushed when I realized the double meaning, I giggled and shook my head. "I mean, you felt like you had a fever." He shrugged a little before releasing his hold on me. I let my hands let out of his face and my arms laid limp at my sides.

"I feel fine, honest." I nodded and he took a deep breath. "Well, it's time for the movie to start. Shall we?" I giggled and nodded. Mike followed us, but he seemed pretty scared of Jake.

I really hoped the rest of this evening worked in my favor.


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome back everyone. I will give you fair warning. This chapter is a tear-jerker. I cried writing it. :(**

 **In My Heart**

 **Chapter Nine**

I sat between the two boys and wondered to myself where Quil could be. I then reminded myself that he seemed pretty cozy in the lobby with a blonde ticket checker. It ended up being exactly how I predicted it would. Just Mike, Jake, and me.

The movie started with a nice romantic feel to it which caught me off guard. It was a couple in love, probably mid twenties. It was the son and daughter of two different mafia heads. The woman was the daughter of the head of the Russian Mafia while the man was the son of the top dog of the Italian Mafia. They seemed happy enough, obviously completely in love with each other, but neither wanted anything to do with their father's business. It seemed neither of them knew what the other's father did for a living which made for a very interesting twist.

The screen then went to a meeting for the Russian Mafia. There was a lot of lingo that I didn't really understand, but I got the gist of what was going on. They were discussing a territory split between them and the Italians so not to have any conflicts arise. This seemed like a good thing, but something unexpected happened.

A couple of guys, dressed in all black, busted in and killed the head of the meeting and his right hand man. This was a nice little twist also.

The Russians automatically assumed this hit was done by the Italians and sent their own guys after them. They killed the Italian head which started an all out war.

That's when the young couple from the beginning of the movie came in. They were in the middle of celebrating their anniversary of being together for a year when the restaurant they were in was shot up. Frantic, they raced to get out of there, but they were chased by the gunmen who were shooting at them.

The movie continued on like this for a while. The couple would run, get shot at, innocent bystanders would get killed, and finally they confessed to each other what they thought this was about. They finally know that their fathers are enemies. When they called their father's for help, they were shocked to find out that they were dead. Feeling betrayed by their love, each went their own way and made it back to their families.

This movie was really getting good.

The same men in all black snatched up the couple in a navy blue van. Soon, both Mafia families were in an abandoned warehouse where the men in black had taken them. The families realized that neither of them started this whole thing. It was these men in black who started this war.

A gun battle started between the good fellows and the men in black when I noticed that Mike looked sick, flinching at the gunfire on the screen.

"Are you okay, Mike?" He looked like he was gagging before he shook his head.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." He jumped out of his seat and ran down the aisle to the door. I looked to Jake who had an amused grin on his face.

"I'm gonna go check on him." I got up and Jake quickly followed. "You don't have to come." He shrugged with a roll of his eyes.

"It's really obvious how that movie is going to end." I scowled and pointed my finger at him in warning.

"Don't you dare tell me!" He threw his head back laughing as he threw his arm over my shoulder.

"Only that couple makes it out alive." I jabbed him in the stomach and he laughed.

"I told you not to tell me." We walked out into the lobby and found the men's room. I could heard the yakking coming from Mike inside. I felt bad for him. He could have said that he wasn't feeling good and I would have completely understood.

"I'll go check. You can't exactly go in there." He teased me and I rolled my eyes as he went in. I heard a couple of low murmurs from Jake and Mike, but I couldn't tell what was being said. Then, I heard the sound of more vomiting and Jake walked out. He let out a carefree laugh which was rare for him. It was infectious and I started laughing. "Geesh! You do _not_ want to go in there." I giggled as we strolled together down the corridor. "What a marshmallow!" I giggled from his comment. Though I knew Mike was really sick, his remark was funny. "You should hold out for someone with a stronger stomach, someone who laughs at the gore that makes weaker men vomit." I blushed when he said this to me and took my hand in his. I gently squeezed his grip before stealing a glance up at him. He was gazing at me so affectionately.

"I'll make sure to keep my eye open for that." I teased him back as I clung to his arm. I was amazed by the hard, thick muscles I felt on his bicep. It wasn't as big as Emmett's bulky muscles, but it was shocking. I hadn't ever seen Jake shirtless, but I had seen him in a tank top before and, though he had muscles, they had been lean and soft. Just touching his arm was making me blush.

"I bet you will." He teasingly whispered in my ear and I bit my lip before looking up at him.

"I kind of feel bad for him. He probably has that flu that's been going around. Jessica and Lauren have it also." He nodded as we made it to the empty snack bar. I was caught off guard when I stepped on something slippery and started to lose my balance. I shrieked and Jake started to slip along with me. I lost my footing and fell onto my back and Jake landed on top of me with an umph sound. I groaned and he did the same before he moved onto his elbows in a struggle. We looked at each other and we instantly started laughing.

Here we were at the movie theater where we had come in different parties and we were the only two in sight. We just happened to be the people who topelled over a puddle of damn butter. It was comical.

"Who the hell leaves this much butter on the floor and doesn't clean it up?" I threw my head back with my laughter and he looked at me amused.

"Someone is getting _fired_." I joked in a melodic voice and he snickered.

"And you are covered in butter." He mentioned and I looked at my shirt. Yup, I was drenched in it.

"It would appear so." I laid my head back down before smiling happily at him. "Hopefully, no one tries to fry me or I will be crispy." Not many people got my humor, but Jake always did.

"I will protect you from giant sized ovens, milady." I giggled and after a moment we stopped laughing. His eyes got so intense, full of admiration and affection. My breath caught from this look and I couldn't control myself. I pressed my mouth against his and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my hands in his hair. I kissed him repeatedly and his mouth caressed mine with the same passion, but after a moment, he groaned and pulled his mouth back. "Bells, we can't." I shook my head and pressed my forehead to his.

"Why not?" He didn't speak as if he couldn't come up with a reason. "I'm ready. I want to be with you. I want to build a relationship with you. I just want you. You're the only one I want, Jake. Please, stop pulling back." I begged him to embrace it, but his gaze just filled with sorrow and heartache.

"I'm sorry. I-I can't." My heart broke at his words and I slowly pulled my arms back and he sighed sadly. "I can't be what you want me to be for you. It's not going to work." My hopes and dreams of a life with Jacob were shattered in that moment as he moved to his feet. He extended his hand to me, but I ignored it and moved myself to my feet. I slowly walked to the counter of the snack bar and grabbed a few napkins, rubbing the butter off my backside. I kept my eyes down as silent tears cascaded down my cheeks and fell to the counter. I watched each drop fall and I slowly rubbed the paper against the back of my clothes.

Shards of my heart were falling off the muscle as the truth of what this night had come to sunk in. Jake didn't want me. He didn't love me or want to be with me. I was now damaged goods. He had built me up, gave me hope and faith for the future for the first time in my life, then he stripped it all away. He stole from me all of my self esteem, all of my security, all of my love for him. He took from me things that I never realized would be important until that day on the beach when I first laid eyes on Jacob Black. My heart was bleeding and I wasn't sure it would ever stop. I didn't think the pain could ever cease.

Suddenly, I heard Angela's voice.

"Too bad we missed the movie, eh?" I struggled to keep my breathing even as I tossed the used napkins in the trash and stood there, facing away from the man who had just ripped my heart out of my chest.

"Bells?" His voice made me flinch just as he touched my arm. I couldn't take the contact.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I swung around and couldn't control the volume of my voice. His face showed his shock at my sudden outburst as my tears run wild down my face, streaking the make up that had been perfectly place. My hand involuntarily pressed to my heart as I backed away from him. How could he do this to me? He had promised me that he would never hurt me, but he lied. He had broken me with his admission that he didn't want me.

I had guys constantly asking me out at my school, but this one, the one guy I actually wanted to be with, didn't want me.

"Bells, please, don't cry." I huffed and pushed past him. I ran out the front door and was greeted by the pouring down, cold rain. The freezing liquid tried to wash away my pain, but it couldn't.

It was over. Jacob Black didn't want me and, if he didn't want me, he couldn't have any of me. This would be the last time I would willingly put myself in a situation to even be in his presence. If he didn't want to be with me, he would soon learn what it felt like to be excommunicated from my life completely.

"Bella!" I heard Angela's sweet voice come from behind me as I stood in the pouring rain. I turned to her and she looked at me with emotional pain. "What's wrong? What happened?" My lip trembled as my tears fell, but I was sure she couldn't see them due to how drenched I was from the rain.

"It didn't work." I whispered and her jaw slacked a little with disbelief. "He's made up his mind. He doesn't want me anymore. Th-this whole charade, pretending to go on a date with Mike, your fake break up with Embry, Edward helping me make Jake jealous, it was all for nothing because I'm not what he wants anymore." She quickly shook her head.

"That's not possible."

"Yes, it is." Another sob left as I pulled the hair tie out of my hair and threw it on the sidewalk. "He said he can't be what I want him to be. I was stupid to think that there was any chance in hell that he would want me for any period of time." My breath was coming out choppy from how he had ripped my whole being the shreds. "The worst part of it all isn't that I let him do things to me that I never allowed anyone to do to me. It's not that he's the first guy I've ever had feelings for or ever kissed. It's the fact that I was stupid enough to let myself fall in love with him." She gasped as she stood before me and a sob left my lips. "I love him. I love him so much that it feels like he tore my heart out of my chest." She slowly started to walk towards me, but stayed under cover from the pouring rain. "It wasn't real. None of it was. I was never what he wanted. It was a game. He wasn't messing with my head. He was fucking with my heart." With frustration, I kicked at the ground, but my feet slipped out from under me and I landed on my behind. I turned away from Angela and sat on the curb between Jake's Rabbit and Mike's SUV.

I couldn't bring myself to move from where I was. I was stuck, emotionally as well as physically.

"Come on. Let's get you out of the rain." I shook my head, but didn't give her a reply. I didn't want to go back in there. If I did, I would probably break down in front of Jake again and I wanted to keep the little bit of dignity I had left intact.

I didn't know how long I had sat there, but it felt like forever. Tears falling disguised by the rain. People passed me and stared, but I didn't look to see the looks on their faces. I knew they were probably confused by the white girl sitting on the curb by herself in the rain.

After a while, the rain let up and the sky was covered in clouds, hiding the starry sky. I couldn't even see the moon tonight. I didn't want to see it either. I didn't want the reminder it would give me, but the lack of it gave it to me anyways.

Twas the night of the barbecue at the Black house.

 _Everyone had already left except for Charlie and myself. Charlie was inside with Billy while Jake and I were in the backyard. I watched as Jake set up a telescope in the bed of my truck. I couldn't help, but laugh at the concentration on his face._

 _"You aren't going to see anything. One, we are too close to Forks, and two, we never have a clear sky out here." He laughed a little at my analysis._

 _"Well, I will show you a thing or two, spider monkey." I giggled from my nickname that he came up with at the drop of a hat._

 _"Is that so?" I teased him and he smirked at me before walking in the bed of my truck over to the tailgate. He extended his hand to me and I took it willingly. He helped me up into the bed of the truck. He held my hand and we walked over to the telescope._

 _"I want to show you something. This is something that only happens once every seven years." I wasn't sure what he meant. He wrapped his arms around my waist and positioned be next to the telescope. "Take a peek." I rolled my eyes and bent down._

 _Far off into the distance, I saw a long strike across the sky, blue, red, and yellow colors streaked behind a glowing white ball that was flying through the sky in the distance._

 _"Wooooah." I giggled a little at the unimaginable beauty of it. When I pulled away from the telescope, I could see just what looked like a small comet off into the distance, moving slowly. "What is that?" I asked and he chuckled happily._

 _"It's a comet, silly." I giggled and leaned back into his embrace. "A long time ago, the tribe had it named after the chief I told you about." I smiled to myself when he finished. I thought this was a great way to honor someone._

 _"Taha Aki or the false chief?" He scoffed before resting his cheek on my shoulder._

 _"Taha Aki. Why the hell would we name a comet after one of the biggest evils our tribe has faced?" I shrugged before I looked at him. He was so handsome, the starlight making his skin shimmer in the midst of the darkness._

 _"As a reminder." He chuckled before pulling back._

 _"A reminder of what?" I shrugged a little before glancing at him from behind my hair._

 _"To never stray too far from your path." He gazed at me momentarily before he bit his lip and stared up at the comet that was slowly moving through the sky._

 _"Such wisdom from such a tiny thing." I elbowed him and he chortled._

 _"Well, I am older than you." He scoffed before his arms went around my waist again._

 _"By three months." I smiled to myself before turning my head to look at him._

 _"Three months is still older. I guess that would make me a cougar, huh?" I teased him and he rolled his eyes before his hand gingerly stroked my cheek._

 _"I see nothing wrong with you being older than me." His voice was soft, like silk, and my breathing became heavier as his face leaned down to mine. His mouth met mine in a sweet, loving kiss. I gripped onto the roots of his soft strands and held his mouth to mine as his hands rubbed across my stomach and my hips. I placed my other hand over his and softly moaned into his mouth. His tongue softly caressed mine as my grip on his hair tightened. My moans dramatized with each stroke of his tongue and my mind fogged until he pulled back, breathlessly. I took a couple of deep breaths before opening my eyes, seeing him smirking at me._

 _"Thank you for sharing this with me." I appreciated everything he shared with me, no matter how painful or happy it was. I didn't think there would be anything he could share with me that would make me happy to know it._

 _"I feel like I can share anything with you, Bells." I smiled joyfully before I released my hold on his hand and joined my hands together on top of his._

 _"Same here."_

I never thought anything could strip away how special and perfect that night was. Him showing me that comet had meant so much to me. He was comfortable enough with me to share his heritage and his tribal secrets with me. That was something that always made me happy. Now, it made my heart hurt.

I heard the door open and a groan that sounded like Mike. The SUV opened and I saw Quil slide Mike into the backseat.

"You definitely aren't in any shape to drive yourself home." Quil joked, but it wasn't funny. Mike was _really_ sick.

"Why don't you guys drive him home and I'll take Bella home?" I heard Jake offer and I cringed as I stayed in my spot.

"Oh, I'll come with you!" Quil volunteered to be the third wheel.

"Quil, I need to talk to her alone." I didn't think Jake knew I could hear him. Maybe he did and just didn't care. "I'll pick you guys up from Mike's place once I drop off Bella, okay?" I stayed where I was, staring at my hands.

I had put a wall around my heart, trying to block out the pain from my heartache traveling to my brain. I wanted the numbness, especially if I was expected to sit in a car for an hour next to Jake.

"Come on, Bells." I saw Jake's hand extended to me, but I didn't put my hand in his. I slowly moved to my feet, kept my head down, and went to the passenger side door. I slowly opened the door to the Rabbit and slid in. I kept my eyes down as Jake slid in and sped off. He jumped on the highway before I felt his eyes on me. "You are completely soaked. Why didn't you come back inside?" I was silent for a minute, focusing on not letting myself cry before I spoke.

"I don't mind the rain." My voice was quiet. I wasn't sure if he would hear me, but I couldn't muster the strength to talk louder. I heard him sigh, but that was the only noise he made for the rest of the ride. I sat there silently, either looking out my window or staring at my hands, but I never looked in his direction.

I knew, if I looked at him, I would start crying. He had done this to me. He did this to us, our friendship, our future, our false love.

The drive seemed longer than an hour, like it was taking days to get home, but I was alerted to being home when he put the car in park and turned it off.

"Thanks for the ride." I whispered before starting to open the door.

"Bella, wait, please." I kept my hand on the door handle and waited for him to continue. "Will you please just talk to me?" I squinted and took a deep breath before I spoke.

"I have nothing to say."

"Yes, you do. You could always talk to me if no one else." I felt the tears coming, but I barricaded the wall around my aching muscle even more.

"That was before and this is now. I don't want to talk to you." I took a deep breath before continuing to make sure he knew that I never wanted to see him again. "Not after tonight." I pushed opened the door and climbed out before slamming it behind me.

"Bella! Bella, wait!" I strolled up my driveway, but felt his presence behind me. "You don't mean that, please." I turned around to him when I couldn't hold back the floodgates anymore.

"Yes, I do!" His face reflected the hurt in my heart as I shook my head. "You did this, not me. There were only two paths that this all could taken from the moment you tried to kiss me the night we met. Either you would have all of me or none of me and you chose the latter. You don't want to be with me? Fine, but you have to live with the consequences of that decision. Those consequences are simple, being exiled from my life indefinitely.

"I cannot stomach to look at you after everything that has happened in the past month. You said you wanted me, but in reality, you wanted someone who would stick around and give whatever you wanted until they started to ask for too much. You didn't like me or want me. You liked the _idea_ of me, but when it came to us actually being together, you didn't want that. You wanted to act like you were my boyfriend when that wasn't what you really wanted at all, Jacob!" He looked like he wanted to say something, but I wasn't about to give him the chance. He wanted me to talk to him. He was going to hear everything I had to say, no matter how much it hurt him to hear.

"You dragged me along for a month and I stupidly kept making excuses for why you hadn't asked me out. I thought maybe I was the problem and that I wasn't being patient enough with you, but I was far more patient than any girl ever would be. Ask Angela. She will tell you she wouldn't be as patient as I have been with you with Embry. She would have dropped his ass a long time ago if he made her wait like you have me. I have realized I'm not the problem. You are the problem, Jake.

"I was ready to be with you the night I met you. All I wanted was for you to want me as much as I wanted you, but you couldn't do that. You couldn't even tell me early on that you didn't want me. No, you waited a fucking month to do it. You waited a month of giving me hope and making me feel wanted and cared for to drop me on my ass and shatter my heart into a million pieces.

"I was there for you the most that I could be. No one else was there for you while you were fighting your damn demons and crying over Billy not giving two shits about anything but his own selfish desires. I doubt anyone has ever been there for you like I have, Jake, and you completely shit on me." I started to step away from him with my hands up.

"Bella, please." I shook my head before I sneered at him.

"I'm done. I am _so_ done." He looked heartbroken as he looked to me, but I must have been mistaken. He was the one who brought us to this place, to this tragic end. "Lose my number and forget you ever met me." I turned and started back up my driveway.

"Bells, please, you got it all-" I wasn't going to let him finish his sentence. I didn't care what he would say.

"I don't want to hear it!" I screamed as I struggled to unlock the door. "I don't want to hear your voice, I don't want to see your face, I can't even stomach to think about going to La Push after tonight. Goodbye, Jacob Black. Have a nice life." I pushed open the door, walked in, and slammed it in his face before locking it back up.

"Bella, please, you have it all wrong. Don't do this." I squinted and shook my head before running off to my room. I closed my bedroom window, locked it, and shut the blinds.

My heart was hurting and I just wanted to be alone in my misery.

Deep down, I had hoped he would change his mind by the time we got to my house, but I knew the real world didn't have such romantic movie endings such as that.

I never wanted to hear his name or think about Jacob Black ever again, but I already knew he would plague my dreams tonight with his rejection of my love for him.

 **Who hates me? Who still loves me right now? Don't worry. This story is FAR from is still a lot more to go. More drama, more romance... Did you guys get the hints that I left in that last chapter, Chapter Eight? Did you like the reference to New Moon in this chapter?**

 **Let me know your thought!**

 **Lots of love!**


	10. Chapter 10

**In My Heart**

 **Chapter Ten**

I had been going crazy and I wondered if this emotional torture would ever end. I had screwed things up bad. I had called Bella every day since that night at the theater to try to convince her to change her mind about cutting me from her life, but she never answered. Sometimes, it went straight to voicemail and others it would ring twice before she ignored my call.

It had been a month since I had seen her. I knew Charlie was worried about her because she barely came out of her room other than to eat and go to school. She stopped hanging out with everyone other than Angela and that was only because Angela would go to her house to check on her.

I wasn't doing much better. I missed her so bad. I missed her sweet, strawberry scent, her wavy, mahogany locks, her soft, alabaster skin, her pink, full lips….I missed holding her and kissing her. I wanted to give into the kiss she gave me at the theater. I wanted to ignore my thoughts that told me to pump the brakes and take her into an empty room to have my way with her amazing, voluptuous body. I never wanted to stop kissing her, but everything had been flushed down the drain the night.

I wanted to rip Cullen's hands off for how he was touching her and I wanted to scream at her for how she let him. His hands were all over her ass and her fuck-tastic hips. When I saw him try to kiss her, I almost lost complete control of myself. It took everything in me to keep from punching him. My subconscious was screaming that she was mine and only I could touch her like that. The horny teenager in me was screaming at me to bend her the fuck over in that tiny skirt she was wearing and fuck her so hard that she knows I'm the only one who she should let touch her. I was so close to dragging her off to the ladies bathroom to do just that after my fight with Embry.

Every part of me was screaming to claim her as mine so no one would ever think to try to take her from me.

But, then, I thought rationally. I wasn't really paying attention to that movie. I was just thinking about all that had transpired. Bella had let not one, not two, but three different guys she went to school with touch her like she was their woman and didn't seem to have any problems with it at all. It seemed like, if anything, she enjoyed the attention.

I had no idea who this girl was in Bella's skin because I had never seen her like that. She exuded confidence and walked like she was strutting her stuff for everyone to see. I didn't like this side of her.

Then, that Newton dickhead came to me and was calling Bella a slut. Something about how she jumped from acting like she liked him, to me, then to that Cullen guy. I already wanted to beat his ass to a pulp for just touching her, but then he had to say how I needed to get away from her as fast as I could because she was nothing but a whore. I yelled at him and told him that if he ever talked about Bella like that again I would kill him.

Then, we had that little mishap where we slipped in that butter. It hurt, but our little banter was fun. Then, she kissed me. God, I had missed kissing her. Those sweet, succulent lips of hers. I could kiss them all night. I wanted to, but I couldn't.

My mind was already swirling with the thoughts of those guys putting their hands on her. Had she been letting them do that this whole time she had been going to school with them? If we were together, would she still let them do that? I refused to be with someone who would let other guys touch her like they owned her, like they were her pimp or something. I didn't want to compare Bella to a prostitute, but it was the only comparison I could come up with.

She begged me to give in, to just be with her and love her, but I couldn't. Not after what I had seen that night.

I had expected Angela to yell at me for my stupidity, but she didn't. She hadn't even spoken to me since that night, even just in passing. That didn't really bother me too much. It was Bella that had me bothered.

My dreams were plagued with her. Her hair, her hands, her gorgeous face, her soft stomach and legs. Worst of all, not all of the dreams were just her. Some were more on the erotic side. Some were of her under me while I drove her to the brink of ecstasy, screaming through her orgasms.

I had never mastrabated as much as I had in the past month, at least once a day. The only image that could get me off was those dreams of her writhing in pleasure beneath me.

My dad had gone to a council meeting so it was just me sitting in the quiet house all by myself. I really wished Bella was here. I would be able to hold her and kiss her. Then, I could just take off her clothes, lay her down, and-

"Shut up!" I yelled at brain and gripped my head in my hands. I couldn't get her to leave my mind and it was driving me insane.

I needed Bella back, but I was just as stubborn as her.

"Hey, Jake!" I looked to my door to see Angela, Quil, and Embry walk through the door. As usual, Angela scowled, Embry looked solemn, and Quil smiled.

"Hey, guys." I released my head and sat back against the sofa.

"Where is your dad?"

"At a meeting." I didn't really feel like company anymore, but they seemed to just push their way into my solitude.

"Well, why aren't you in the garage?" I looked to Quil with sorrow and Embry scoffed.

"Ain't it obvious? Because that's where he always hung out with Bella and now she wants nothing to do with him." I sneered at Embry for throwing this in my face while Angela rolled her eyes.

"Rightfully so if I might add my two cents." I huffed and grabbed my bottle of water before taking a sip.

"Go ahead. Rub it in if you think I don't feel shitty enough as it is." Angela had an anger glare in her eyes.

"You should feel like crap for how you stomped on my friend's heart. You dragged her along for a month and for what? Shits and giggles? You won't be getting even a shred of sympathy here. You put yourself in this place and you put my best friend through sheer hell. You deserve to be suffering." I wasn't surprised by her words at all. When Angela thought someone was a fuckup, she told them in the harshest terms possible. What did surprise me is that Embry stood by her side in this.

"Angela is right, Jake. What were you thinking? That you could tell Bella that you didn't want to be with her and everything could go on as it had been? There is no world in which that would have been a possibility. The girl busted her ass trying to make it so you guys could be together. What the hell brought on your sudden cold feet, anyways?" Embry pressed. I was surprised that Quil hadn't butted in yet. He always enjoyed a good lecture, but this one was about me rejecting Bella.

"Seriously? You were there. All of you were. She was…" I struggled to say the words without losing my temper. The image of her letting Cullen touch her like he did was torturing me. "She was flip flopping, alright?" Quil looked confused as did Angela and Embry.

"Flip flopping?" I nodded.

"She tells me that she wants to be with me, says she's going on a date with that twat Newton, then I see her letting that Cullen guy put his hands all over her, hell she was going to fucking kiss him in front of me, then she goes back to saying she wants to be with me. She was throwing herself around like a damn rag doll." Angela scowled when I said this. I hated to word it like this, but there was no better way to put it.

"You aren't seriously calling my best friend a slut, are you?" I groaned from this.

"No, I know she's not, alright? If she was being like that with other guys in front of me, how can I know she wouldn't do that behind my back?" I was sure I sounded like a whipped dog, hurt by the beating he received from his master. It wasn't much different from what I was feeling. I felt beaten down, not by Bella, but by my feelings for her.

"You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?" Embry asked. I looked to him and saw the realization in his eyes.

"Figured what out?" Angela rolled her eyes.

"It was all staged, you dipshit." I wasn't sure what she meant. "The date with Mike, mine and Embry's breakup, Edward flirting with Bella, Emmett being all affectionate with her….Bella staged all of it to make you jealous for taking so long to ask her out." I gasped when Angela said this. Bella was behind all of that? She planned it?

"That doesn't make sense. You and Bella didn't get into an argument?" Embry chuckled.

"Oh, we did, but I found out right afterwards what was really going on. I felt bad for being an ass to her so I helped by pretending to fight with my girlfriend. We had to get you to that theater somehow. Just knowing she was going out with someone else wasn't enough to push you." Quil looked just as throttled as me.

"Did you know about this?" He shook his head quickly.

"You, Quil, and Mike were the only ones out of the loop. Even Edward and Emmett were in on it. I didn't know when we got to the movies that they would be helping, but from what Bella said, they caught onto what was happening and offered to help." I couldn't believe I had been so stupid. She was just trying to make me jealous and it worked. It worked too well. "And, for the record, all she did where Mike was concerned is hold his hand. We all thought you would have gotten that she was trying to make you jealous when he told Quil that it was a group thing and not a date." It's official. I am an idiot.

"It wasn't even supposed to get to the movie theater. She hoped that as soon as she told you about going out with Mike that you would just tell her not to and ask her to be with you instead, but you just shut the fuck down. When Mike said it wasn't a date, Bella had to improvise and Edward volunteered to help. The whole flirting and him trying to kiss her was all fake. When he told her that he was going to kiss her, she told him not to, that she only wanted to be with you, so he staged it so he would almost kiss her before having to leave. From what she said, it was the most uncomfortable thing she has ever been a part of and she never wanted to have to do any of that again. Holding Mike's hand, having Edward touch her and try to kiss her, she hated every second of it and she only did it for you." I couldn't believe I didn't see this. How could I have been so stupid, so blind?

No wonder this behavior seemed so out of character for Bella. It was because it wasn't like her and she wouldn't have done it if I had just told her that I was ready to be with her. I was just so damn nervous. I didn't want to tell her I was ready and her say she didn't want me anymore.

"She told us that, if it didn't work, she would kick you out of her life and she lived up to her word. You even pushed her to the point of begging, Jake. You made her beg and plead for you to be with her, but even that didn't do any good. You broke her, the girl that is in love with you, and there is no one you can blame, but yourself." Shock filled me to the brim at Angela's last sentence. I wasn't sure if I should believe my ears at what she said.

"Sh-she loves me?" Angela nodded before crossing her arms. "Di-did she tell you that?" She nodded.

"After she ran out of the theater. The way she put it was that the worst part about you rejecting her wasn't everything else that had happened, but that you made her fall for you. That's what made it hurt her so bad, that's why she doesn't want to have anything to do with you. Maybe someday when she doesn't have feelings for you anymore, but for now, she doesn't want to have you as a part of her life." I needed to fix the damage I had done. Now, it wasn't just that I needed her in my life. It was that I needed her to see that I was ready and that I loved her just as much as she loved me. I didn't care if I made a fool out of myself and she rejected me. I had to try.

I jumped up from my seat and grabbed my car keys off the table, seeing their confused faces.

"I have to go. I need to talk to her." All three of them flashed big grins at me as I ran out of the house as fast as I could. I sprinted to my car, turned it on, and raced out of the driveway towards Forks.

I would hate myself for the rest of my life if I lost my chances with her because I didn't understand at the time what was going on at that theater.

I sped all the way to her house and I was glad when I saw that the red truck was in the driveway and it was the only vehicle there. Even if we ended up arguing, no one would bare witness to it. I really hoped once I told her that I loved her that she wouldn't fight with me.

"Yes, mom. I have my passport and all my spending cash." I groaned into my phone as I tossed my extra clothes into my suitcase. I didn't want to leave, but I couldn't spend a whole life time sulking over Jacob. It was unhealthy and stupid.

Alice and Edward invited me on their family Spring Break trip to Alaska. I didn't want to go, but I thought it would be good to get away from all the reminders of Jake. Even my room was full of memories of him and his daily phone calls didn't help.

Anytime Charlie would tell me that Billy was coming over, I knew Jake would be with him and I race off until I was sure they would be gone. Usually, I would just go to the park and read one of my books. I couldn't handle the tragic romances anymore. They hit home too hard. I had switched to mystery novels and supernatural suspense books.

I knew I needed this trip, but it felt like I was running away from my problems which was something Renee would have done. She would have packed up her belongings and fled town, never looking back. That wasn't me though and this was just for a week.

"Alright, sweetie. Just stay safe, have fun, and take lots of pictures of you and your friends." I smiled a little from her cheery, caring voice.

"Will do. I love you." This was the first time I had smiled in weeks. It felt good to be happy about Renee's voice.

"Love you, too. Bye, Bella." We hung up and I heard the sound of an engine pulling up. I thought it was a little early for my taxi to arrive for my drive to the airport. I was supposed to be meeting the Cullen's at the airport in Port Angeles. They offered to pay for my flight, but I could do that on my own. I knew they had a lot of money, but I didn't want to feel like I was leeching off of them.

I grabbed my suitcase, my phone, and my wallet before walking down the hall. I wanted to look nice since I would be traveling first class so I wore a nice little skirt, my black flats and a dark grey sweater. I wasn't dressed up like Alice or Rosalie, but it was better than my normal jeans and hoodie.

There was a loud knock at the door and I went to the door before opening it. I was very surprised to see Jacob standing there. I quickly groaned. I knew it was too soon for my taxi.

"What are you doing here?" He looked sad and heartbroken. I took notice of the bags under his eyes and the five o'clock shadow that coated his jaw. He looked like hell.

"We need to talk." I shook my head and his eyes landed on my suitcase. "You're leaving?" I nodded when he looked back at me.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm waiting for my taxi to take me to the airport. Now, if you'll excuse me." I went to slam the door in his face, but he stopped it with his hand and pushed it open. "What the hell is wrong with you!" I was getting frustrated. I couldn't stand to look at him. What I hated most was that he still got the same reaction from me as he did a month ago.

I was still in love with him and this fact filled me with self loathing. I didn't want to feel the way I did about him.

He stepped in and shut the door behind him and I groaned. "I did not invite you in. Just go away." I begged for him just to leave me alone, but he wasn't hearing it.

"You can't leave, Bella." I crossed my arms at him and scowled. How dare he tell me that I can't do something?

"You don't own me. I can do whatever I damn well please." He quickly grabbed my hands in his and I couldn't force myself to push him away.

"Bells, please, you can't just run away because things are hard right now. Don't leave." My eyes narrowed as confusion filled me. It was like he was begging me not to do what Charlie calls 'pulling a Renee'.

"What? I'm not running off. What the hell gave you that idea?" I peeled his hands off of mine and hugged them around my stomach. He looked just as confused as I was.

"But, you've got a suitcase and you said you were going to the airport?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going with the Cullen's to Alaska for Spring Break. They invited me to go with them on their yearly trip that they take." I saw him noticeably relax as I averted my eyes to the floor.

"I thought you were going back to your mom's." I shook my head before looking back at him.

"Forks is where I live. Not even you can scare me away from my home." I sneered at him and he tried to take my hands again, but I took a step back. "Don't you dare try to touch me. Just leave. I already told you that I don't want you in my life anymore." He seemed panicked which was odd for him. I had never seen him look so freaked out.

"Bells, I need you to understand what I said that night at the movie theater." I shook my head and shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. What's done is done. Just get out of my house." I wanted to sound angry, but I was sure I just sounded heartbroken and pleading. I could even hear the begging in my voice.

"You don't get it, Bells. I didn't know about what that whole night was about." Now, it was my turn to be confused. I didn't want to desire to know what he wanted to tell me, but the truth was I did. I would hear it out and then kick him out of my house with the threat of calling Charlie to have Jacob removed.

"What do you mean?" He took a deep breath, probably relaxing that I was actually listening.

"I didn't know that the whole thing was about you trying to make me jealous. You have to believe that I had no idea." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Sure, like I really believed that.

"You would be the only one." I really wanted to slap him silly, but I kept my anger at bay the best that I could.

"I know. I was stupid. Your plan worked very well to be honest." I stayed silent as he cupped my face in his hands, staring into my eyes. God, I had missed him touch me like this, so intimately and full of such affection. "I wanted to rip that Cullen guy's hands off for touching you like he was and for trying to kiss you like that. I wanted to show you that I'm the only one who should be allowed to touch you like that." My breath caught in my throat as he said this. The sexual innuendos weren't lost on me.

My desire for him peaked as my heart raced and his thumb skimmed over my lip.

"I wanted to let go when you kissed me, but I couldn't." His words hit home again and I came down from the cloud of lust he put me on. I pulled away from him and shook my head.

"It doesn't matter. You made your choice. I don't want to talk about this anymore." I put my hands up in defeat as I heard the honk of a horn that sounded like a newer car than Jacob's Rabbit. "That would be my taxi. Have a nice Spring Break, Jake." He quickly ran over to me and pressed my back against the wall. I gasped as he did this. "What are you doing?" This position he had me in had me panicked. I could feel all of the contours of his body pressed against mine and this had me aroused. My breath was coming out in choppy pants as he stared intensely into my eyes.

"I can't let you leave until you hear me out, Bells. Please, I love you." I gasped at what he had just said.

"What did you just say?"

"I love you. I love every single thing about you. Just, let me explain myself. If you still want to leave, I won't stand in your way, I promise." He said he loved me, but I couldn't let that fog up my resolve. I still needed to stand by my original statement. He could either have all of me or none of me.

"That doesn't change anything. What would make you think that I would want to be your friend just because you love me? You didn't want me. You made that perfectly clear that night."

"That's where you are wrong, Bella. You are everything I want." My heart skipped when I heard those words leave his lips. I couldn't let him see the effect his words of encouragement were having on me. They made me want to throw myself at him and kiss him until I was breathless.

"If that were true, then, why? Why the fuck would you have turned me down when I was begging you to be with me?" His strong hands smoothed down my waist and gripped my hips purposefully. God, if that didn't turn me on even more. I had to keep myself in check though. I couldn't show any sign of weakness.

"Because I saw how you were letting Cullen touch you like that. I had doubts because of that. If you were letting him do that to you in front of me, I didn't know how I could be sure you wouldn't let him be like that with you when I wasn't around and we were a couple." Wow, he definitely knew exactly how to make me feel like a slut.

"You really are a fucking piece of work. You think that after you just basically called me a slut I would change my mind about you. That doesn't change anything. In anything it gives a perfect chance to see what you honestly think of me. You made yourself clear that you didn't want to be in a relationship with me. With me, it's all or nothing. I won't go back to being the girl you claimed to want to be with, but wouldn't put the footwork into being with." I sneered at him and he quickly cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to gaze into his heavenly, cinnamon eyes.

"I'm not asking you to." He whispered softly. This hurt a little bit, but I kept my tears at bay.

"Then, what are you asking of me? What do you want from me?" I pleaded. I wanted to get away from him, but knew it wasn't possible until he actually let me go.

"I want to be with you." My breath caught in my throat as he said this. I wasn't sure if I should believe what he just said to me.

"What?" I was shocked at the very least. He gave an encouraging smirk as his thumbs rubbed my cheek.

"I love you, god, so much and I want us to be together. You say it's all or nothing. I choose all. I want all of you, every last bit of you, body and soul. Please, say yes, say you'll go out with me?" My shock was lifted, like the cloud overhead cleared, and excitement surged through me. I was so unbelievably happy that he was asking me this. I had waited so long to hear those words come from his lips. I had lost hope that they ever would, but now, he had said it and he was begging me to take him as he was, the boy I was in love with.

I urgently kissed him and wound my arms around his neck, my palms gripping tight to his shoulders. The passion flowed between us and I was becoming dazed by the strength of our love. I was surrounded by his arms and that was all that mattered.

I ignored the sound of the horn honking and enjoyed him kissing me. I whimpered when I felt my legs come out from under me and being wrapped around his waist. My mind was clouded and the only thing that I gripped onto emotionally was how overjoyed I was that Jacob finally wanted to be with me, for us to be together.

Next thing I knew, I felt my bed against my back as he released himself from me. My eyes snapped open and I saw Jacob moved over my body, wrapping my legs back around his waist, before kissing along my neck. I moaned and let my head fall back as he did this to me. His mouth glided, sucked, and licked at the flesh as his hands gripped onto my hips. His erection rubbed against me through our clothes as I whimpered. God, he knew just what to do to make me want him even more. I felt his teeth actually bite my neck as his hand skimmed up my thigh, teasing the rim of my panties. I moaned in surprise as I gripped onto those bulging biceps of his before arching into him.

"I love you." He groaned and I moaned, pressing my hips to his. I heard him grunt as he held my hips tight to his, gyrating his erection against my inflamed core.

"I love you." I confessed in a low voice full of both love and arousal for him. I was surprised when he pulled back and sat back on his knees. His hands massaged up my waist and I arched towards his touch. He smirked knowingly as he pushed my sweater up my petite frame and over my head. I pulled my arms out and watched as he tossed it to the floor. My breath was coming out in short pants as he moved back over me and kissed me again. His hands moved over my abdomen obsessively and his mouth moved back down my neck, licking where he had bit me, before going down to my breasts. He kissed and licked over the valley of my tits as I whimpered and moaned for him.

What the hell was this guy doing to me? I wanted him to just rip my clothes off and make me his in every way. My arousal was driving me mad and all I could think about was his mouth and hands on my body.

"Jake." I whimpered his name as he flicked the clasp between my peaks and my bra came undone, my breasts bouncing free. His mouth instantly engulfed my left breast while he teased my other one with his thumb. I arched towards him when he did this.

There was only one time he had ever done this to me and I hoped this wouldn't end the same way that time did.

He licked, bit, and kissed my nipple before moving over to my other breasts. Once he had done the same thing to that one, he moved back up me and pressed his forehead to mine. We both struggled to breath and I felt my love for this man radiating from within me. He stroked my hip while his erection stayed pressed against my core.

"I'm gonna show you exactly how much I love you, baby." I moaned when he said this and I kissed him passionately.

"Jake, I-" I was going to tell him what I really wanted, how I wanted him deep inside of me, how I wanted to feel how much he desired me. I had become ready for us to have sex a lot quicker than I expected myself to be, but I honestly believe it was because of how easy things were between me and him. I was ready for that, way more than just ready. I needed it. I needed him inside of me. I needed him to make love to me, fuck me, rock my world, whatever you want to call it.

My phone ringing interrupted me. I found it on the bed next to me and I grabbed it before looking to him. He had moved away from me and was pulling my skirt down my legs.

"Answer it, honey." I nodded and looked to see who was calling.

It was Esme, Edward's mom. I had only met her on one occasion, when she had to drop the Cullen's off at school. Apparently, Edward's car broke down and it was out of commission for a day.

I hit the green button and placed it to my ear.

"Hello?" Jake started to sweetly kiss around my knee, massaging my calves as he did this. I struggled to hold in my moans which probably made my voice sound hoarse.

"Bella, sweetie, are you okay? The cab driver said no one came out when he stopped at your house." She asked in a sweet voice and I covered my mouth when Jake bit the inside of my thigh. God, it felt so amazing when he did that.

"I-I'm okay. Just, ah, um, a little under the weather." He ran his tongue up my thigh before spreading my legs. He kissed around my thigh before running his tongue along the rim of my panties. What the hell was he trying to do? Give away that he was about to eat me out? I definitely didn't want my friend's mom hearing me moaning like a pornstar from the way he was teasing my body. I quickly covered my mouth to keep from crying out for him. "Sorry, I won't be able to go with you guys." I quickly covered my mouth again as he moved to my other leg and did the same thing. Fuck, his tongue, lips, and teeth felt so amazing on the sensitive skin between my legs.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better. I'm sure you can still have a nice vacation, anyways." I was shocked when Jake pushed my panties off of my pussy and ran his flattened tongue over my whole core. I arched before whimpering.

"Fuck." I whispered to myself before speaking to Esme. "I'll be fine. Go have fun without me. I have to go. I'm so sorry. Bye." I quickly hung up and arched towards him. "Oh, my god." I mewled as he sucked on my clit before he bit down on it. I screeched before gripping on his hair. "Jesus, fuck." I saw his eyes peeking out of his hair as he flickered his tongue against my swollen clit. "Please, Jake. I-I want you so bad." I confessed and he groaned before removing his face from my core.

"You would have to clarify." He groaned as I struggled to calm down my breathing. Sure, I would have loved for him to continuing going down on me, but there was something I needed much more than his talented tongue.

"I want you inside me." I whispered and I felt two of his fingers enter me, stroking my tense, inner muscles. I whimpered and gripped to my bed spread.

"What part of me do you want inside you? My fingers, my tongue, or something else?" He teased me with his words and I arched towards him.

"You know what I want inside of me." I fought for him just to take off his pants and make me his already.

"I want you to say it. What part of my body do you want inside of your sweet little pussy?" I groaned as I curled my toes. He had me on the edge from how he was working me with those magical finger.

"I want your dick." He stood to his feet and I became captivated by his dark eyes. They were so inviting, so full to the brim with intense desire.

"Is your dad working late?" I nodded before biting my lip.

"We have three hours before he gets off work." He smiled for a moment before grabbing the back of his shirt, pulling it over his head. I watched as the cotton material moved up his russet skin. I was amazed when I saw him completely shirtless. He had such thick, defined muscles covering his chest. Each dip between his muscles was covered by the shadows cascaded along his skin. I was shocked that anyone, let alone someone like Jake, could have an eight pack like that. He wasn't big and bulky like Emmett was, but hot, damn!

"Woah." He chortled as I said this and he tossed his shirt to the floor.

"What?"

"Jake, you're like….buff." He threw his head back laughing before flashing me a proud smile. I blushed when he did this and started to work on his belt, kicking off his shoes.

"I'm just filling out, babe." Yeah, like I'd believe that. Did he really expect me to believe that it was sheer coincidence that right after I got to town he started to pack on muscle. I was not that damn naive.

He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and sat it on the bed next to me before continuing to undo his jeans. They hung just low enough on his waist to show the top of his boxers and his small trail of hair leading from his bellybutton past his boxers. My heart raced as I waited for his pants to be gone. I prayed for time to speed up, but it seemed to slow down. He pulled down his zipper and pushed his jeans down his hips. I flinched a little from the loud clatter of his belt hitting the linoleum. He noticed which caused him to stop.

"Are you sure?" He asked and I sat up. I ran my hands over his hard abs as he groaned. I gently kissed along his trail of hair. I gripped onto the legs of his black boxers and yanked them down. It didn't work from how hard he was. His erection held them up. I pulled at the waistband and pulled them down to his knees. His hard, thick cock sprung out of the confinement and I couldn't help myself. I ran my tongue from the base of him to the tip of his mushroom top. I looked up at him as he groaned and his head fell back.

"You went down on me for a little bit." I kissed his tip before licking around his head. "It's only fair that I do the same to you." I took him in my mouth as he groaned and I pulled as much of his length inside my mouth as I could. It had been almost two months since I last had him in my mouth. It was an adjustment.

"Fuck, baby." He started to thrust into my mouth and I forced myself to gag on him. He grunted when I did this and I reached under him and massaged his testicles. "Shit, Bells. You need to stop that." I pulled him out of my mouth and kissed his head before looking up at him. His eyes were even darker, complete with lust.

"Don't you like being in my mouth?" He groaned as he rubbed my cheek.

"God, I love having my dick in your mouth. I know both of us want it someplace else and I want to be able to last as long as possible." I moaned a little before laying back on the bed. He kicked away his boxers before rubbing my legs. "Scooch back some more." I moved back onto the bed and pushed my bra down my arms before tossing it away. I laid myself down, pressing hands onto the bed next to my head in surrender. I watched as he kicked away his boxers before grabbing his wallet.

This was confusing.

I saw him open it up and pull out a foil package. I immediately giggled at this.

"Billy still has you on those restrictions, I guess?" He chuckled before shaking his head. He tore the package open with his teeth then slip the rubbed over his length as I watched.

"Nah. I just didn't take this one out of my wallet." I bit my lip as he crawled up the bed to me. He stopped for a moment and pulled down my underwear. He threw them to the floor before spreading my legs. He moved between them and propped himself up on his elbows. "Hey." I giggled to myself before smirking at him shyly.

"Hey yourself." He gave me a sweet, loving kiss and I enjoyed every second of it.

"Are you sure about this? I can wait if that's what you need." It was so sweet that he was asking me this. Him making sure I was positive that I wanted to be with him like this showed how much he cared about me. He knew what I had been through and he still wanted me.

"Absolutely positive." He grinned before kissing me. His hand reached between my legs and he guided his length to me. I felt his tip touch me, which felt very odd. The rubber made it feel more like an object entering me than a part of his body. He pressed himself into me and slowly moved in. My core stretched around him and it was very uncomfortable. He pulled out of the kiss and looked at how my face twist with discomfort.

"What's wrong?" He asked and I groaned as I laid my arms over his shoulders.

"I'm not used to having anything inside me. You're just stretching me is all." I tried to shrug it off, but he didn't seem like he was happy about this at all.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it was going to hurt you." I quickly shook my head and kissed him.

"Just give me a minute to adjust." He nodded and sat up a little, adjusting his position a little.

"Tell me when you're ready, honey." I nodded and, when he moved a little, I didn't feel pain. I felt a twinge of pleasure at the movement. God, it felt good. He had hit something when he moved at that angle, I wasn't sure what it was, but it felt amazing.

"Move, please." I begged as I bit my lip and he nodded. He pulled out of me. I was going to protest this, but he thrusted back inside of me. I moaned and arched into him. God, it felt amazing. I whimpered as he kept going. His thrusts turned more purposeful, hard, faster. He began pounding into me, breath becoming choppy. I writhed beneath him, turning my head back and forth with rapture. I felt his mouth connect with my neck as he gripped my thigh, pressing it on his hip. That angle was even better. "Oh, fuck!" I mewled as I gripped to him, arching even closer to him.

"Shit, you feel so good." He whispered in my ear. I could hear the arousal in his voice, the lust within him apparent from how he was breathing against my neck. "You're so tight, so damn wet." He grunted and I scratched at his back from the pressure building within me.

"God, I'm so close." I whimpered as he pulled his face back, staring into my eyes. Grunting and groaned, he sped up his pace.

"You gonna cum for me?" I nodded and panted from how tight the muscles in my stomach were getting. I threw my head back and suddenly felt his thumb rubbing my clit.

"Fuuuuck!" I mewled as my release hit and I let out a loud, strangled moan. He groaned as he slowed down his pace. I didn't want him to slow down. I want him to keep up that pace, but I had to admit, I was very sensitive from my climax.

"Did that feel good?" I nodded from his question and he slowly pulled out of me, groaning intensely. I was flabbergasted by this.

"Wha-why did you stop?" I struggled to control my breathing. I could see that he was still hard so I knew it wasn't that he found his own release. It would have been a major let down if he had cum that quick.

"Pacing myself." That made sense, but god, I didn't want him to. He was so good at what he was doing to me. "I need to calm down a little before we keep going. I don't want to cum too soon." I nodded when he said this and rubbed my hands over his abs. I hoped this would be soothing to him, helping him relax quicker. "Guys don't last long at their first time. I'm trying to last as long as I can." I didn't know this, but it was nice to know. I watched as he took one more deep breath. "Turn around. Get on your hands and knees." I wasn't sure what this would do, but I didn't question him. He probably had more of an idea of what he was doing than I did. I knew nothing about sexual positions at all.

I slowly moved to put my ass facing him and pushed myself up on my hands and knees. I heard him chuckle before he used his knee to push my legs apart. I took a deep breath as I felt him move behind me. I felt his strong hands stroke my ass before I felt a stinging impact again my cheek. I whimpered out a moan before looking back at him over my shoulder.

"Did you really just spank me?" He chortled and massaged my hips.

"You have an amazing ass." I blushed when he said this. It was nice to know how sexually attracted to me he was. I felt him move back inside me. The change in position was on a completely different level. If it were even possible, he felt longer and thicker. "Oh, shit." His pelvis connected to my ass and I hissed from the restriction. "Are you okay?" I nodded as I took a deep breath.

"You feel bigger like this." I gulped as I felt little pains inside me.

"You are a lot tighter from this position." I nodded before quietly groaning, but it mustn't have been quiet enough. "Do you want me to stay still?" I shook my head vigorously.

"Please, move." I begged him. I hoped it didn't hurt more when he moved. If it did, I would hate to disappoint him by telling him that I couldn't handle it in that position. He pulled out and started thrusting back into me. The pain lifted and I moaned dramatically. After a moment, his hips started to pound into mine. God, it felt so good, how he would drill himself into me, how his hips swirled in my direction, how he kept hitting my sweet spot. I fell down to my elbows as I moaned loudly. I felt him slap my ass again as he grunted.

"Yeah, baby. You like that?" I nodded as I clung to the comforter on my bed and he groaned. "My cock feel that good?" I felt him grab a hold of my hair and yank my head back. That sent a jolt straight to where we were connected.

"Oh, fuuuuck, yes!" I moaned as I felt my next orgasm start to approach. My breathing came out in choppy pants and he started to fuck me harder.

"Yeah, uh, baby. This pussy is mine." He grunted and smacked my ass again with his hard, fast thrusts. "Say it." He demanded and his command made me even wetter for him.

"It's yours, Jake!" He was showing the Alpha male part of him and I liked it very much.

"That's right. Don't you forget it. I better never ever see another guy touch you like at the theater. Got it?" I painted heavily as I clawed at my blanket.

"Yes! I-I…" I trailed off right before my orgasm hit, tingling all by flesh with a burst of pleasure coursing through my body. "Fuuuuck, Jacob!" I screamed out his name and he didn't stop his assault on my core.

"Yeah, that's right, baby. Your orgasms are all mine. Isn't that right?" I nodded as I whimpered from how wonderful it felt, his length penetrating me so deep and hard. "I am all yours and you are all mine. Say it." He commanded as he pulled my hair back a little harder and I mewled in response to his dominating demand.

"You are mine and I'm yours! I'm all fucking yours!" His grunts got louder and more defined as he pounded into me harder and harder until…

"Oh, shit, baby. I'm gonna cum." I reached behind me and scratched at his leg as he continued in on me, slapping my ass harder, pulling my hair more forcefully, and slamming his length even deeper into me. He moved down over me and released my hair, burying his face in the sea of strands on my shoulders. "Fuck, I'm right there." His arm came around my waist as he still his thrusts, pressing himself harder again me. I felt his muscles tense as he groaned louder before he relaxed. "Damn, Bells." He kissed my neck as I struggled to calm down my breathing. "Shit, that was unbelievable." He whispered and I smiled to myself as he pulled out of me.

I instantly fell against the mattress from how he had wiped me of energy. I never expected it to be that amazing between us, let alone the very first time we did it. It was like he knew my body so well that he instinctively knew what would feel amazing to me. I watched as he climbed out of bed and removed the condom, smoothing it down his now limp penis. I bit my lip as he tied off the rubber and placed it inside the silver package it came from. He sat down the package on my nightstand before crawling back into my bed with me. He pulled up my blanket and I slowly moved my aching body under the covers and he did the same.

I moved into his chest as he kissed my forehead and I relaxed in his arms.

"How was that for you?" He asked and I smiled to myself before looking up into his sweet, dark eyes.

"I can't image sex ever being better than that." He chuckled before I kissed him passionately. I buried my hands in his hair as he showed me the same love and adoration I was sending to him.

"Same here." he said when he released the kiss. "I definitely wasn't expecting that when I came over here." I snickered to myself.

"Then, tell me, why did you have protection on you if you weren't expecting it?" I only meant it as a tease, but I was actually curious. He had said he wasn't on restriction anymore.

"I just didn't take it out of my wallet after my dad lifted my rules." I was a little curious about why Billy would lift them and I was sure at this point that he could read my thoughts. "When you stopped coming over everyday, my dad finally believed me that we weren't dating or having sex so he lifted his new, strict rules. He will probably reimplement them when he finds out about us." I smiled to myself before resting my head on his chest.

"Yeah, that's the big difference between your dad and mine. My dad actually believes me when I tell him something, no questions asked." He snickered before gazing down at me.

"How so?" I bit my lip before grinning at him happily.

"When he accused me of having sex with you when you stayed the night, I told him that we hadn't and he believed me. Then, he tried to have a sex talk with me. You should have seen how red he got when I told him that I had never had sex before." Jacob threw his head back laughing.

"Yeah, I could only imagine how embarrassed he was." I snickered before I kissed him. He pinned me down on the bed and moved over me before he released the kiss. He looked down at me with such loving, zealous eyes as I took a deep breath to recover from the kiss. "I love you...so much." I flushed and smirked when he said this to me.

"And I love you." He kissed me again and pulled my body to his, moaning along with me.

"Fuck it." He whispered before pulling the blanket over our heads and getting started on round two of wild, raw, passionate sex of the day.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the big delay in posting. I finally got better internet access at home so hopefully I can post a lot more now than I have been.

Warning: This chapter does contain sexually explicit scenes.

In My Heart

 **Chapter Eleven**

Jake and I slowly strolled out of the house, hand in hand, and made it to the porch. It had been an amazing two and a half hours alone together. We hadn't left my bedroom in the entire time and, to be honest, I was starving. I needed to refuel after the nearly non-stop fuckfest we just had.

"Do you have to go?" I didn't want to seem clingy, but damn, I had gone a month without him and I missed him so much.

"Your dad will be home soon. It would be really suspicious if he sees me here. Plus, he might want to investigate your room and, I bet you anything, it smell like sex." I giggled before moving into his arms. He smiled down at me before sighing. "I really don't want to go, though." I completely agreed with him. I was about to kiss him when we were alerted to the sound of a car racing around the corner. I quickly recognized Angela in the passenger seat and Embry in the driver's seat. Jake chortled as he released his hold on me. "Looks like his mom let him use the car. That rarely ever happens." Jacob shrugged it off nonchalantly. It was a nice car. Shiny paint, clean windows, and glimmering wheels, but it looked like an older model of Mustang.

"I see why." I giggled as the two of them got out of the car laughing. Angela started to jog over and Jake looked to me with a big smile.

"I'll be right back, baby." I blushed as he said this and ran off. Angela gave me a big grin as she stepped up the porch.

"I suspect you guys are talking again?" I nodded as I watched Jacob talk to Embry like everything in his world was absolutely perfect. It made me happy to see him smiling and laughing.

"Yup, we are talking again." I responded as I gazed at that amazing boy that I loved. I couldn't conjure up a man more perfect for me than him. I couldn't even fathom what someone more perfect would be like.

"What did he say when he came over? He left his house so fast he didn't tell anyone what he was going to talk to you about. Just that he needed to talk to you. I didn't realize he had such tunnel vision until today." Angela complained and I really wanted to yell at her for talking about my boyfriend like that. Ooooh, I like the sound of that. Jake is _my_ boyfriend!

"That is private, but what do you mean by him having tunnel vision?" She scoffed before rolling her eyes.

"Um, hello? Me and Embry handed him his ass today when he was sitting around sulking over you not answering his phone calls." It did make me happy that he would call, but a part of me wish he wouldn't. Now, I regretted that I never answered.

"Okay, and?" I egged her on and she smiled.

"He didn't realize that you had been trying to make him jealous that night and me and Embry told him. Right after that, he raced out of the house, saying he needed to talk to you. I guess that talk went well." I shrugged a little as I saw Jake pat Embry's shoulder before walking pretty quickly back towards my house. "Forget something?" Angela teased and he chuckled.

"Yup." He moved to me, picked me up, pinned me against the door, and started to kiss me. I completely forgot in that instance that we weren't alone and wrapped my arms around his neck, my legs latching around his waist. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue collided with mine and he dominated my mouth. His mouth descended along my jaw and to my neck before he kissed and licked the very spot that he had bitten me earlier.

I opened my eyes and was brought back to reality when I saw Angela looking at me with surprise, jaw slacked. I giggled before slapping his shoulder.

"Jake, stop it…" He chortled as he sat me down and gave me one last sweet kiss. His eyes shined down at me and I rolled my eyes. "You need to get going, you damn caveman." He chuckled and kissed me again before backing away.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven, okay?" I nodded and gave him a small wave as he practically skipped down the driveway. He slid over the hood of his car before climbing into the driver's seat. It was adorable, how happy he was, that I snickered to myself. Once him and Embry drove away, I turned to Angela who was giving me a knowing look.

"So, Embry's mom let him have the car? She decided that she likes you now?" She laughed as I opened the door to the house and she followed me in.

"Oh, no, you don't! You don't participate in a display like _that_ and think you can just sweep it under the rug? You better spill your guts already!" She demanded as she pulled me to the couch. I giggled as I sat down.

"So what? Jake and I are going on a date tomorrow. I told him it was all or nothing with me and he chose all." I blushed as I remembered how ecstatic I was when he said he was ready to be with me. It was a long and bumpy road to get here and I didn't want to ever go back.

"That's not all of it. I can tell. Jake has never kiss you, held your hand, or hugged you in front of me before and he just went all possessive on you in front of both me and Embry." I shrugged with a sly smile.

"I don't know what to tell you because that's what happened." She gave me a look that said she wasn't buying any of it.

"Bella, you can't tell me that you just sit and talked for three hours." I shrugged.

"It's mine and Jake's business. I'm not telling you." She scowled then her eyes softened when they landed on my shoulder.

"Wait a minute." I was perplexed by her sudden demeanor change and veer off topic. She pushed my hair off my shoulder and gasped. "Jesus, fuck!" She seemed flabbergasted by whatever she saw. Then, I realized that she was looking where Jake had bitten me.

"I guess he left a mark?" She nodded vigorously with shock still apparent in her eyes.

"Did he _bite_ you or is this just a _really_ bad hickey?" I blushed when she asked this. I pulled my hair back to cover it up and ran my fingers through the strands.

"No, he bit me." She hissed a little at this.

"Did that hurt? It looks really bad." I shook my head.

"No, it actually felt really good. I should probably put some makeup on it before my dad gets home." She pulled out her makeup bag from her purse.

"We don't want you to get grounded before your first date." I was really thankful to have Angela as a friend. I felt terrible for neglecting her in my time of sorrow, but I planned to make it up to her.

* * *

My phone went off as I laid in bed, freshly showered, in my pajama shorts and a tank top. I saw it was Renee calling and I smiled to myself.

"Hey, mom." I answered and heard her shuffling on the other end. "Mom?" She hadn't responded yet and it had me worried.

"Hold on one second, sweetie." Then, she came back over the phone after another moment of shuffling around. "Alright. Hey, honey. How's Alaska?" I had completely forgotten that I had cancelled my trip to have that out of this world sex with Jacob. It was definitely a good trade. Now, I could spend Spring Break with Jake in La Push and I knew I would have a blast.

"Um, I didn't go. I had something to take care of so I missed my flight." I really hoped she wasn't too sad about this.

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey. Well, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful Spring Break anyways." I relaxed as she said this and heard more shuffling around the other end.

"Mom, what's up with your phone?" I asked with a snicker. Renee was not the most tech-savvy person.

"Don't laugh. I didn't lose my power cord. It ran away!" I giggled when she said this. My mom never meant to be funny due to her autism, but she was anyways. It was one of those things I loved about her.

"I miss you, Mom." I confessed and heard her make an 'aw' noise.

"I miss you, too, sweetie." There was silence for a moment. "Oh, I forgot to tell you something earlier. Phil got offered a spot for a team in Jacksonville, Florida." This was wonderful to hear. He was really good at sports, but a lot of other players were better than him. He always struggled to find another team when one team let him go.

"That's great. Tell him I said congratulations." I offered quietly.

"Will do, but this means we will be moving to Florida. We have already found this great house right on the water. It has a nice deck, big bedrooms, and you would even have your own bathroom. Isn't that great!" She was excited, but I was panicked. Now, right after Jake _finally_ asked me out, she decides to tell me about this. I hated to break her heart, but I wasn't about to move across the country away from the guy I loved.

"That's sound great, Mom, but Forks is starting to grow on me." She was quiet for what seemed like a long time, nothing being said at all, until she cleared her throat.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with a boy, would it?" I blushed to myself before smiling though she wouldn't know.

"Yeah, it does." She suddenly shrieked.

"I knew it! You need to tell me all about him." I was a little surprised by her excitement at the news of me and Jake being together. I gasped when I heard the quiet slam of my window being opened and snapped my head around. I watched as Jacob poked his head in before climbing through.

What the hell?

"Mom, can I-I call you back?" I huffed a little from my nervousness.

"No! We need to talk about this boy! Are you guys being safe?" I quickly hung up before pulling the phone from my face.

"What are you doing here?" He chuckled before strolling over to me.

"I'm here to see you." He sat down by my hip and I bit my lip, glancing between him and my bedroom door.

"If my dad sees you in here, he will go mad." Jacob flashed his brilliant smile and my heart raced in response.

"We will just have to be quiet, then." I sensed the sexual insinuation. I couldn't hold in the soft moan that slipped out. "I needed to see you." I slowly sat up and pressed my cheek to his shoulder as he took my hand in his.

"Any specific reason?" He smiled at me and kissed my forehead.

"Other than the couple of hours we were together today, I haven't gotten to see you in a month. I guess I just missed you." He seemed a little embarrassed to say this, but it warmed my heart. I had wanted to go to La Push to see him after Charlie got home, but I knew that would look suspicious since I knew Charlie knew about mine and Jake's falling out.

"I missed you, too." I confessed and the room filled with complete, comfortable silence for a couple minutes. Suddenly, my door handle jiggled and panic filled me as Jake jumped up. I was so glad that I locked my door.

"Bells?" I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Yeah, Dad?" I called through the door as Jake stood off to the side nervously.

"Sorry to wake you, but I have to go to the station." I relaxed a little that he didn't have any idea that Jake was in my room with me.

"Okay, be safe." I quickly looked to Jake and panicked again. "Where is your car?" He chuckled before wrapping his arms around me. God, I loved his warm hugs. They always felt so special and inviting. I relaxed in his embrace.

"Down the street. I didn't want to chance him seeing my car." I nodded and held myself to his warm, welcoming chest.

"Isn't your dad going to be mad at you for being out so late?" I whispered. I didn't want to chance us not being able to go on our date tomorrow because we needed to make up for lost time.

"My curfew isn't until midnight. We have a couple of hours before I need to leave." I was so happy that he wouldn't get in trouble that I kissed him. While I enjoyed the feeling of his lips on mine, his hands roamed over my backside, clutching and massaging me in the right places.

I was in heaven. This all felt like a dream, like I would wake up and find that he hadn't come back to me. I was so scared that he would vanish into thin air. I would know I was crazy if that happened. I would have such an overactive imagination if I dreamed up him coming to me, confessing his love for me, and driving me to the brink of abyss between the sheets.

I moaned like crazy into his mouth and he quickly picked me up, laid me on the bed, and moved between my legs before kissing me again. I whimpered as his mouth moved down my neck, kissing and licking at my flesh.

"Jake…." I mewled his name and he grunted as I felt his erection come alive. I instantly became drenched from feeling his hardness pressed against me. "Are you trying to get your dick wet again?" He groaned in my ear and gripped my ass tightly in his strong hand. "Because it's working." I wanted him _so_ bad.

"Fuck, baby. I didn't come here for that, but I can't keep my hands off of you." I moaned as he started to pull down my bottoms.

"Don't you mean you can't keep yourself _out_ of me?" I teased him a little. He pulled back and yanked my bottoms down my legs before tossing them to the side.

"Exactly. Well, a little bit of both." I bit my lip as he sat on the side of the bed and worked at his pants before pushing them to his knees. "I didn't bring anymore condoms with me. Can I just pull out?" I nodded and straddled his waist before pulling him inside me. My head fell back and I moaned. This definitely felt _way_ better than when he had a condom on. I was definitely going to need to get on the pill so we could do it like this. "Yeah, honey." I moved up and down his length, rolling my hips as I did it. He groaned as he gripped onto my ass and laid down against the bed. "Just like that." He started thrusting up into me and my mind fogged as I let out a strangled whimper of lust. He felt so good and the way he looked at me, it was euphoric all put together.

After a while, he sat up and kissed me so raw with passion as I whimpered into his mouth.

"I love you." He whispered, his voice full of love and admiration.

"I love you….so much." I confessed before kissing him again. If I hadn't been so focused on working him in and out of me, I would have been screaming my lungs out from how good he felt.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my bedroom door, but it was locked and I was in a haze from arousal. I didn't care who it was.

"Bella, open up!" It was Angela. I quietly moaned as he gently slapped my ass.

"Go away!" Jake yelled as he rocked his hips harder into me. I scratched at his neck as my orgasm approached and I gave control back over to him. "We are _fucking_ busy!" He yelled then flipped us over. I shrieked for a moment before he threw my legs on his shoulders and started pounding away into me. I arched in rapture before screaming out at the top of my legs.

"Ooooh, fuuuck, yeeees!" I cried out in ecstasy just as he slapped my ass again.

"Yeah, baby. I need to pull out." He moved out of me. As soon as I recovered, I moved to my knees in front of him and took him in my mouth. I wasn't about to let him go without his own release. I knew he needed it and I wanted him to be completely satisfied.

He gripped onto my hair and started pounding into my mouth, making me gag on him continuously, before he gasped.

"Guuuh!" He grunted and spilled his seeds down my throat. He tasted so salty sweet. I loved the way he tasted. I moaned as I released his length and swallowed all he gave me. "Fuck." I bit my lip as he said that before I watched him pull back up his pants. "That'll teach me to go anywhere without a condom." I giggled and he pulled me to my feet before I kissed him.

"If I wanted to teach you anything, I would have held out on you." He smirked before holding me in his arms.

"Thank god, you didn't. That was amazing. Not that earlier today wasn't amazing, too." He seemed worried that I might think he didn't enjoy it when we had sex. I knew he loved it. And me. Those were the two things in this world I was positive about.

"I know. I bet you anything Angela didn't leave, though, and, thanks to you, she knows that we have had sex." His jaw slacked and the look of surprise covered his handsome features.

"Yo-you didn't tell her earlier?" I shook my head.

"I told her not to ask because I wasn't going to tell her anything." He looked ashamed for a minute. "She was probably suspicious. I wasn't going to tell her because she is a little nosy. I wanted our first time to be private, just for us to know about." I could swear, his cheeks suddenly had a twinge of pink to it as a shy smile graced his lips.

Jacob Ephraim Black was _blushing_!

"I didn't tell anyone either. I just thought Angela would have beaten it out of you." I giggled and shook my head.

"She backed off when I asked her to which was very out of character for her. I think she kind of knew, but just didn't want to say anything." I shrugged a little and he chuckled before kissing me again.

"You need to get dressed, baby." I blushed when I realized that I still didn't have on any bottoms. I giggled and grabbed my shorts, slipping them back on. Jacob unlocked my door and pushed it open before we emerged. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me sweetly. "You are amazing." I giggled when he said this.

"Did you hit your head or something?" I teased him and he rolled his eyes before pressing his forehead to mine.

"You clearly don't see yourself the way I do." I nodded before giving him a brief peck on his lips.

"Nope." He chortled and took my hand as we strolled to the end of the hall. We saw Angela leaned against the couch with an all-knowing smirk. "What?" I tried to look innocent, but she huffed.

"Don't 'what' me, missy." Jacob scoffed at her and my eyes met his goofy smile.

"Leave it alone." Jacob commanded and I bit my lip, remembering how amazing it was to be in the throws of passion with him.

"What are you even doing here?" Jacob shrugged to Angela's inquiry.

"I came to see my girlfriend." I couldn't stop from smiling when he called me that. I had waited so long to be his girlfriend in our story. I was so happy that I finally was.

"And Charlie was okay with you bending her over?" Angela tilted her head and I smirked.

"He didn't bend me over." Angela cringed and Jacob snickered.

"I really don't wanna know what position he fucked you in, okay?" She shivered with disgust.

"Why are you here, Ang?"

"Charlie called me. He said he was going to be out all night and asked me to come stay with you so you wouldn't be alone." Jacob suddenly gasped before pulling out his phone. He glanced at the time and his breath went out quick.

"Shit, I gotta go, babe." I looked to the clock on the wall and saw it was already almost his curfew.

"Go so you don't get grounded." He smiled and nodded before kissing me.

"Love you." I giggled as he pressed his forehead to mind.

"Love you, too." He let go of me and raced himself out the front door. I really didn't want to let him go, but I knew better than to try to keep him there with me. I didn't want to risk postponing our date just for a little more time together tonight.

 **Did you like it? Penny for your thoughts?**


	12. Chapter 12

**In My Heart**

Chapter Twelve

I strolled into the front door as the clock struck twelve and relaxed. I was really worried that I would be late for my curfew and that would have put the brakes on my plans for tomorrow. I was surprised to see my dad was still up. He was sitting in front of the tv with a glas of water in his hand.

"Hey, Jake. Enjoy your night?" I nodded as I locked the front door. I knew that this was the only chance I would have. It would look bad if it came from anyone other than me that Bella and I were now together. He would take it personally and the repercussions could be disastrous.

"Yeah, um, dad, can we talk?" He nodded before he yawned.

"Sure, sure. I was going to head to bed in a minute anyways. Come sit." I strolled over to the couch and sat down next to where his wheelchair was parked. "What's on your mind, son?" I chuckled before twisting my hands in my lap nervously.

"I just needed to talk to you about something. Do you remember how you had thought for a while that Bella was my girlfriend?" A part of that whole thing was comforting, how people already thought she was all mine, but it also made things difficult.

"Yeah, what about it?" I bit my lip for a moment before I actually spit it out.

"Well, I went to talk to her today, try to fix things….I didn't realize how bad I had screwed up with her….both of us had wanted to be together before our fall out, but I kept stepping back from it because of the whole fear of the unknown…." He kept nodding as I talked and I could tell he was really absorbing what I was saying. "It took me a while to even get her to speak to me. She was so upset with me because she felt like I had been dragging her along for nothing….I had to go and talk to her because I couldn't take it anymore." He nodded and placed his hand on my back for support. "We talked everything out today and we are actually together now. We actually have a date tomorrow." He had a brief, big smile before he dulled it down to being supportive.

"Son, I'm glad you could come to me. Honestly, I thought something bad had happened since she's been latched to those Cullen kids so much." This just confused me. Sure, I had heard their name before in some legend of ours that I could not remember what it was for the life of me, but I saw nothing of it. Cullen could be a very common name in Alaska for all I knew.

"Why would they be anything bad?" For the first time in forever, he looked irked and a little mad.

"They are a bad crowd is all. Their whole family is. It's best she stays away from them." This just confused me.

"Does Charlie know? She was supposed to go away with them for Spring Break." My dad looked livid now.

"What? Did she go?" I chuckled and shook my head.

"No, she missed her flight so me and her could talk." He relaxed at this news. I was befuddled. What was it about these guys that had my dad so upset?

"Ok, good. Did she just talk about them with you?" I shook my head.

"No, they were at the movies with her and Angela when me, Embry, and Quil went. They seemed nice enough." I purposely left out how they helped Bella make me jealous. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea about that.

His jaw clenched before he cleared his throat. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night, son." I wished him goodnight and watched as he disappeared into his room. I grabbed some clothes and went to shower when I heard him on the phone in his room. "A meeting needs to be called about this. The Cullen's have no business around Bella Swan or any other kids for that matter. They have already started a chain reaction that can't be undone. First Sam Uley and now Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron have been affected. We need to deal with this now before Quil and Jake have been affected though it might be too late for them. Jacob, Quil, and Embry have already been in their presence." I was very unsure about what this was he was talking about, but I figured it was his old legend rubbish he liked to talk about. I just shrugged it off with a roll of my eyes and got myself ready for bed.

XXXXXXX

It had been so long since I had been woken up by a large bucket of cold water being thrown on me. I jumped up with a deep breath from my dreamless slumber. I shivered before scowling at who dumped it on me. I was shocked when I saw none other than my MIA sister.

"Rachel?" She sported a happy smile as she held her bucket against her hip.

"Hey, little brother. Long time no see. Wasting the day in bed, I see." She teased and I jumped out of bed before hugging her, covering her in water no doubt. "Hey! Don't get me all wet!" She scowled playfully and I chuckled.

"You should know better than to wake me up like that. Now, I'm not the only one who is soaked." I teased her and she laughed.

"Had to wake you up somehow. I tried shaking you and yelling your name." I nodded and yawned. "Get dressed! I'd like to spend some time with my baby brother when he's not soaked." She turned and started skipping out when I groaned.

"I'm not a baby, Rach." She laughed as she closed my door and I groaned. I couldn't believe that not only was I sixteen and my big sister still called me her 'baby' brother, but that said sister had made the surprise visit to the reservation while I was sleeping.

I threw on some clothes before leaving my room. Dad was up and he was actually cooking breakfast. This was very strange. He hadn't cooked since Mom died. He had said it reminded him too much of her because of how much of an amazing cook she was.

"Morning, Dad." I said and Rachel laughed.

"More like 'noon', Jake. How late were you up last night?" That explains the early visit. Rachel was always an early riser, but Dad usually woke me up to help him get out of bed.

"Um, one." Rachel laughed and Dad scowled at her.

"Quit ragging on your brother. He needs all the sleep he can get. He's a growing boy." I chalked it up to me and Bella having sex so much yesterday, but something in my gut told me it was something else. Maybe I was coming down with something. I prayed that wasn't it though.

"Gee, thanks, Dad." I grumbled before grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. Rachel laughed as Dad took two plates to the kitchen table. I grabbed the last and sat in front of him before taking a seat on the opposite side of the table from Rachel.

"So, what have I missed? Anything new?" She asked and I smiled to myself. If I didn't know any better, I would think she hadn't run away to escape our family's past. Mom's death hit her and Rebecca hard and Dad's lack of concern over his health only made it worse.

"Not too much. Charlie's daughter moved back." Dad said before looking at me with this look on his face that said he wanted me to tell my sister that Bella was now my girlfriend. Rachel gasped and had a big smile across her face.

"Really? Bella's back? That's awesome!" She shrieked and I couldn't help the snicker that escaped. My family always loved Bella and Charlie, not so much Renee though. "It's been _so_ long since I've seen here. What's she like now? She's not like Renee, is she?" I stayed silent and Dad chortled at her question.

"Not in the least. She doesn't seem to be like Charlie either. She's just herself." He shrugged a little and I watched his face for any change. His demeanor stayed carefree as he choked down on his eggs. "Your brother would be able to tell you more than me. Those two have been attached since her first week here." I smirked when he said this. Attached would be the understatement of the year. What would be a better phrase to use? Oh, yeah, in love. We weren't attached, but in love. Bella had become a very vital part of my life.

"Oh, are you back to the 'lovesick puppy' act again, bro?" Rachel teased me and I was completely confused.

"Huh?" Dad snickered at this and I looked to him bewildered. I didn't get what was funny.

"Jake, when we were little, you used to follow that girl around everywhere with this cute little look on your face. Bella used to say you looked like a puppy. You even let her dress you up as a dog before her and her mom moved off. You had the biggest crush on her I have ever seen in my life and that says a lot." She laughed at my childhood self and I rolled my eyes.

"It was forever dubbed the 'lovesick puppy act'." Dad laughed with Rachel at it. I had no recollection of this at all. I didn't remember much of Bella living in Forks before we met at the beach.

"Go ahead. Laugh it up." I took a sip on my water before speaking. "Make fun of my childhood crush on my girlfriend all you want." Rachel's eyes widened when I said this and she choked on her eggs before swallowing hard.

"Did I just hear you right? You are dating? Hell, you are dating Bella Swan?" I nodded proudly and Dad snickered.

"I wasn't the slightest bit surprised at all." Rachel took a chug of water when Dad said this.

"Yeah, so much so you thought I had fucked her right after we met." Rachel spit her water clear across the room and both Dad and I laughed about it.

"Wait, what?" I snickered when she cleared her throat.

"He has more control than I did at his age." Dad shrugged and I flashed a big smile. "We had to spend the night at the Swan house and Charlie and I weren't in the right mind at the time so Charlie told your brother to sleep in Bella's room with her." Rachel's jaw slacked and I chortled from the awestruck face she had.

"Whhhat?"

"Eh, I couldn't complain." I teased my sister in an honest answer. I had a great night with Bella that night. Man, it seemed like such a long time ago now. It was so nice to sleep with her in my arms all night. She never moved. She just stayed there. Bella and I have had some great memories, but that has to be my favorite.

"I bet you did." Rachel snickered. "Charlie must have chased your ass down for deflowering his little girl." She teased and I shook my head.

"I didn't 'deflower' her as you so eloquently put it." Which was the truth. I wasn't the person who popped her cherry. I wished I had been, but that was a choice that was stripped from her by that Jaxon asshole that raped her. It pissed me off anytime I thought about what he did to her. Thinking about that happening to her made me feel like I was losing myself, like my anger would make me burst at the seams and become someone I wasn't.

"Like I believe that." Rachel huffed and I groaned. Not this again.

"Your brother is not like other boys his age. He has good control over himself." You definitely wouldn't say that if you knew what Bella and I did for _hours_ yesterday. "God knows where he got that from. The first time me and your mother were alone like that you and your sister were conceived." This was always his argument for safe sex. He was constantly bringing up this scenario, how him and Mom were stupid their first time.

"I got that speech enough in high school, Dad." Rachel grimaced and I snickered.

"The point is I have faith that your brother is smart. When he does go _there_ with someone, I know he will be smart about it." And that we were.

"So, Rach, are you staying for Spring Break or just the day?" I asked and she giggled before nodding towards the duffle bag by the front door.

"Spring Break. What can I say? I missed my home." I was glad to hear this. I had to admit. I missed Rachel as well. Rebecca was always more serious than Rachel, taking everything to heart and being offended even when someone was just teasing her. Rachel joked and laughed a lot. She was like Mom this way. Rachel and I were pretty close before she left.

"You are always welcome here, Rachel." Dad said in a caring voice before he squeezed her hand and she gave him a big smile.

"Hey, Jake?" She suddenly snapped her head back to me and I nodded. "Does the school still hold that 'start of spring break' party they always did?" I nodded with a smile. I had been thinking of taking Bella there before starting our date. She was always so curious about our traditions and legends. It was really cute and I was grateful for the intrigue. I was very proud of my heritage and I wanted to share it with her.

"Yeah, the school had a pipe burst in the gym so it's being held at the beach tonight."

"Why don't we go tonight? I miss all the people we went to school with. It will be fun." I nodded with a happy smirk.

"Sounds great. I have to pick up Bella at seven for our date tonight. I was planning to take her there anyways. We can go there early and hang out before I have to go get her." Rachel cheered joyously.

"Great! I can't wait to see her!" It was so nice to see Rachel happy and I really hoped Bella and Rachel could get along when they were reacquainted.

I had been rushing around all day, cleaning and doing laundry. I was trying everything to keep myself busy so I wouldn't be thinking about my date. I had no idea what Jake had planned for us tonight and I was very excited.

I kept looking at the clock and was annoyed by how slow the time was ticking by.

"What are you waiting on?" Charlie asked as I glanced on the clock after doing the dishes from making him dinner. I didn't eat just in case Jake had something planned that entailed food.

"What do you mean?"

"You keep looking at the clock like you are waiting for it to move faster." He asked as he flipped through the newspaper. I rinsed my hands, dried them, and turned off the water before grabbed Charlie a beer from the fridge, setting it in front of him.

"Um, I have a date tonight." I confessed and noticed him stiffen.

"A date? I thought you didn't like any of the guys at your school." I bit my lip before standing casually next to him.

"He doesn't go to my school." He looked to me curiously and I blushed. "I have a date with Jake, Dad." It was embarrassing, having this conversation with him, but I knew I had to or he would think I was trying to hide something from him.

"You mean Jacob Black?" His voice was low and full of disbelief. I bit my lip and nodded.

"Yes, that Jake. He will be here at seven." He didn't look at me. He just sat down his newspaper and was pretending to be reading something, but I knew better.

"I thought you guys weren't on speaking terms?"

"We talked things out. We fixed what was broken." I was mumbling. I was nervous to talk about this with him, but it needed to be done.

"Alright. Have fun and stop staring at the clock." I relaxed and giggled.

"Sure, sure." I borrowed Jake's famous saying before giving Charlie a kiss on the cheek. I went to my room and cleaned it up before getting ready for my date. I wasn't sure what to wear.

I didn't want to wear something inappropriate, but I had no idea what would be right for this. Sure, it was our first date, but I had no idea what he was planning. Would we be going out to eat? Just hanging out at the beach?

I grabbed my phone and shot him a text.

 **What is the plan for tonight?**

It was a little strange that I didn't get a response from him. He was one person who always answered his phone or quickly responded. I figured maybe he was getting ready himself and just tried to find the right thing to wear.

I settled for a nice blue short sleeved sweater, my black skirt, and a pair of flats. Even if we were just hanging out at the beach, I could easily take off my shoes.

Second Beach was always something special to me. The sand was so soft and the water a dark blue. It was like everything about that place called to me and its voice got louder every time I was there. Like the spirit of the ocean was screaming my name from far off into the distance where the sky met the water.

I brushed my hair out and put on a very light amount of makeup. I was really thankful to Angela for teaching me how to use this stuff. I was never one for makeup, but I wanted to look my best for Jacob. I hoped this would be a night the both of us would always remember and cherish.

I sat in my room, folding laundry, as I waited for Jacob to show up, but he never came. Jake was never one to be late. If he said he was going to be somewhere at a certain time, he was there half an hour early. He was very punctual so this was very odd.

I sat there for two hours before I picked up my phone and called Jake's phone, but there was no answer. The insecure part of me thought that he had stood me up, but I didn't want that to be true. I decided maybe he forgot his phone and probably broke down. His car was pretty old even though he did rebuild it himself.

I dialed the Black house and the phone answered after two rings.

"Hello?" I recognized Billy's voice instantly.

"Hey, Billy. Is Jake there?" I asked and I'm sure my voice sounded a little desperate though I tried to hide it.

"Actually, he's down at the beach. I guess he lost track of time. Why don't you go meet up with him down there?" I wondered if Jake told Billy about our date and figured he had to since he spoke .as if he knew Jake and I had plans.

"Thanks, Billy. Bye." I hung up and grabbed my wallet and keys before racing out to my truck. I had a sinking pit growing in my stomach, telling me something was wrong. Sometimes this feeling was misplaced and I hoped this was one of those occasions.

The self conscious side of me was very worried. What if Jake changed his mind about us? What if he was hoping to get exactly what I gave him? What if all this was to him was just about getting sex from me? What if he never really loved me? What if I got there and found him with another girl?

The last thought made me flinch as I drove. I doubt I would ever recover if our romance meant nothing to him at all. Tears started to come, but I forced them down. No, Jake loves me and I love him. What we had was more special than anything I had even read about in romance novels. It was like our connection was spiritual. He got me more than anyone ever had.

I noticed that First Beach was packed with a bunch of teenagers, laughing and dancing to music booming. It looked like a dance more than a party.

 _Jake is here without you._ I flinched when I thought about this. He had said he didn't really care one way or another about parties so why would he be here without me? _He's here with someone else._ My inner voice was hurting me so much. Maybe it was right. No, it couldn't be. Jake and I were in love.

I climbed out of the truck and scanned the crowd for Jake then I saw him and my heart shattered right then.

He stood by the surf with Embry and Quil. Jake had his arm around some girl. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger to where I had seen her before. She was easily the most beautiful Quileute girl I had ever seen in my life. Long straight black hair and flawless copper skin. She had a beautiful smile on her face as she looked up at Jake, an admiring twinkle in her eyes.

I hoped what I was witnessing wasn't what I thought it was. I _really_ didn't want it to be that Jake was here with another girl.

I watched as she laughed and squeezed his bicep suggestively and he released her, flexing his muscles with his fists near his face. She laughed and hugged him then she kissed his cheek and he returned the motion.

With that, the dam broke. My heart crumbled into a million pieces as I turned and retreated back to my truck. The whole drive home, I cried hysterically. My gut was right. Jake was there with another girl, he didn't really want me, and he had stood me up. It was all true. I was nothing to him.

 _Nothing_ …. The word repeated over and over in my head as I made it home. I sat there forever and didn't move, only crying, until my truck door was opened from the outside….


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm so sorry for taking so long to update, but my computer crashed so I had to wait for my new one to arrive before I could update. I hope you can forgive me.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **In My Heart**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

I laughed the whole time with Rachel by my side and Quil and Embry with us as company. The party had been a real blast and the crowd was starting to disperse.

"What a party, huh?" Quil asked with a laugh before Embry frowned, looking thoughtful.

"Jake?" I nodded when he spoke and he seemed worried suddenly. "Is Bella alright? I thought you two were supposed to go out tonight." It hit me like a ton of bricks. The party wasn't supposed to end until eleven and I told Bella I would pick her up at seven.

I had completely lost track of time.

"Fuck!" I cursed myself aloud and quickly searched my pockets for my phone, but couldn't find it. "Shit, what time is it?" Rachel pulled out her phone and opened it up.

"It's ten thirty. That girl will definitely hand your ass to you." Rachel grumbled and I cursed myself. She was probably freaking out and really upset. I was three and a half hours late to pick her up and it was too late for us to go on our date now. Even if I left right then, I would only have time to get to Bella's and get right back to my house for curfew.

It's official. I'm the worst fucking boyfriend in existence. How the hell did I lose track of time so much? Oh, yeah. That's right. My sister was here and I had missed her.

"Look, there she is!" Quil said as he pointed at the big red truck coming down the street. I wouldn't be surprised if Bella dumped my ass for my stupidity. I had screwed everything up and we had barely been together for a full day.

"Well, I won't be surprised if she dumps my ass for this." I said and my sister gently touched my arm.

"I'm sure she'll understand. Everyone loses track of time." I shook my head.

"Not me." Quil squinted as he looked at Bella's truck parking across the street.

"That's not Bella in the truck." The door opened and I was surprised to see Angela in the driver's seat of Bella's truck, alone. She jumped out and slammed the door harder than necessary.

"What's Angela doing here?" I asked and Embry shrugged as Angela stomped across the street. I had never seen that girl so on edge, so tense.

She charged across the beach and Embry went to hug her, but she pushed past him, her eyes zeroing in on me.

"You piece of shit!" She screamed at me just as she was about to take a swing at me and Embry grabbed her arms, holding them behind her back.

"Woah, baby! Calm down!" Embry tried to talk her down, but something had really gotten under her skin and something told me it had to do with Bella.

Angela struggled against Embry's grip with a death glare pointed at me. "I'm gonna kick your fucking ass, Black!" Rachel stood by my side almost as if she was ready to jump in and fight Angela herself.

"What is your problem?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level.

"You are my fucking problem, you selfish dirtbag!"

"Me? What did I do to you?" I was confused and Angela might as well have had smoking coming out her ears. She was so angry.

"What about what you did to my friend!" I stiffened when she said this. I knew Bella would be upset about my lack of keeping track of time for the first time in forever.

"Angela, I didn't mean-" She didn't even let me finish apologizing for being so late.

"Oh, I'm _sure_ you just couldn't _fucking_ help yourself but shatter her fucking heart!" My heart stopped when she said this. I knew Bella would be hurt that I lost track of time, but shatter her heart, I didn't think it would do that. "That's my best friend and you keep fucking breaking her over and over again! Not anymore, though!" She pushed Embry's hands off her and scowled at me.

"What are you talking about?" I was worried. I couldn't lose Bella. Not for such a stupid reason.

"You know what I'm talking about. Did you really not know she was here? That she saw you with your filthy hands all over some girl?" I gasped when she said this. I hadn't been around anyone other than Rachel, Quil, and Embry. That was when it clicked.

Bella didn't know Rachel was back or what she looked like. Bella was still a kid when she moved away and she hadn't seen Rachel since then. Hell, she didn't remember me when we met. Rachel and I were always close, some would call us attached. People who didn't know us had been known to think she was my girlfriend because of how close we were. I wasn't surprised that Bella would see us together and think such a thing.

"Angela, it's not what it-" I tried to get her to see the truth, but she wasn't giving me a chance.

"Don't even try to rationalize your philandering behavior. She loves you, damn near worships the ground you walk on, and you shate on her. She had _sex_ with you I don't know how many fucking times even after what that Jaxon shithead did to her. She has been all about you since day one and never gave any other guy a fucking chance because she loves you." I didn't even think about the fact that she just talked about me and my girlfriend having sex in front of my sister. I needed to fix this and I needed Angela to see the truth.

"It's not what you think!" She scoffed before snarling at me.

"You stay the hell away from her. If you go within a hundred yards of Isabella Swan, I will make your life a fucking living hell. I swear, you mess with her, I will make sure Charlie knows how you used his daughter for sex then tossed her to the fucking side when you had another offer." I tried to interject, but she quickly turned to Embry and slapped him across the face. "And you! Fuck you! I can't believe you would be involved with this. I understand the whole putting your friends above your girlfriend shit, but I won't be with someone who would just let one of their friends do some petty shit like this." She pushed past him and I groaned as Embry followed after her.

"Ang, wait a second!"

"No, go fuck yourself, Embry!" I stopped watching or listening to their fight as I sat down in the sand, staring at my hands in my lap. I couldn't believe this was happening. This was supposed to be a great night, mine and Bella's first date, Bella and Rachel reconnecting. A night of joy, laughs, and great company. How did it get so screwed up? That's right. It was my fault.

There were so many ways this could have been avoided. I could have texted Bella and told her that Rachel came to town. I could have picked up Bella early, before the party. I could have just told Rachel 'we will hang tomorrow'. No, I didn't do any of these things. I acted like a fucking kid for the first time in forever and now I've lost the girl I love for a complete misunderstanding.

I always knew Bella was self conscious, only god knows why, and it seemed to get under her skin if other girls, besides Angela, were around us. I wasn't an idiot. I knew other girls found me attractive and liked me, but none of them had my eye. Only Bella and I made sure she knew that the best I could. I tried to always tell her how beautiful and amazing she was so she wouldn't feel like I might wander from her.

"Jake, you need to do something." I heard Rachel say as she placed her hand over mine.

"What can I possibly do right now? My girlfriend thinks I cheated on her. She probably won't listen to anything I say to change her mind about that. It was hard enough the first time." I groaned and I heard Rachel gasp.

"First time?" I nodded with a sad sigh.

"The first time she didn't want anything to do with me just because a damn misunderstanding. I've been screwing up with her since day one and all because I don't have a clue to what I'm fucking doing. I don't even realize I've done anything wrong until it's too late, the damage is done. I mean, I've never been in a relationship before. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I love her. Bella is... unbelievable. I know her well enough to know that the morning will be too late to explain shit to her and I don't have the time before curfew tonight. I've lost her, Rachel, and there is nothing I can do about it." I bowed my head in defeat and I felt Rachel's arms hug my waist.

"How about this, what if I go talk to her tonight?" I was amazed by her offer and looked to her like she was crazy.

"What? How would that help anything?" I really didn't understand her logic at all.

"You are such a guy, Jake. I was the one Bella thinks you cheated on her with. I won't need to say anything other than her just see me and she will know that she just misunderstood what she saw. I'm also not bound by a curfew. I'm an adult. I can come and go as I please and, if Bella feels as strongly about you as you do her, I guarantee that she won't be asleep when I get there." I understood her thinking now and everything she said was true. Bella wouldn't believe me unless she saw Rachel anyways. She would think I was lying, which I wouldn't blame her in the least, but Rachel could get through to her without a big fight and with the least amount of stress put on Bella as possible.

"You would do that?" I was surprised. Sure, I know Rachel loved me as I loved her, but this was different.. This was going out of her way to save my relationship.

"You know, I'd do anything for you, bro. I'll be home after a while, but you should probably head home now or Dad will have your ass." I relaxed when she said this. I really hoped she was right.

After I got home and let Angela borrow my truck, I took a long, tearful bath to try to relax me, but my gut was still in knots from how my heart had been shattered. I had tried everything to relieve the tension, but it was to no avail.

I made my way to bed and curled up in my comforter after putting on my pajamas. I had silent tears running rampant down my face. That girl's face was imprint on my eyelids. I saw her face every single time I closed my eyes and it made my cries audible.

My phone went off and I grabbed it, seeing I had a text from Quil. If I had known it was really Jake, I wouldn't have looked at it.

 **Bells, it's Jake. I am so sorry. I lost my phone and lost track of time. Please, I can explain everything if you give me the chance. I love you. Just, please, don't give up on us.**

My lip trembled as I threw my phone off to the side and held my pillow to my chest, curling up in my ball. I didn't want to feel this anguish. I wanted it to disappear. Most of all, I wanted to forget I ever reconnected with Jacob Black.

I had tried so hard, worked to show him that I wasn't going anywhere, that I wasn't going to leave him, but it wasn't enough. He did the one thing that would make me turn my back on him completely, causing me to be unwilling to give us another chance.

Suddenly, there was a knock at my bedroom door as I wiped away the tears from my eyes.

"For the last time, dad, there is nothing wrong." I tried the say in the most level voice I could come up with, but it sounded strangled even to my ears.

"Bella? It's Rachel Black." I stiffened when I heard the feminine voice speak and sat up. Last I heard, Rachel was still in New York. What the hell was Jacob's sister doing in my house at midnight? Was Charlie even awake? Did he let her in? "Can we talk for a minute? I know it's super late." I hurried to grab a tissue and wipe away the reminisce of tears down my features. I blew my nose quickly before clearing my throat.

"You can come in." I barely spoke a normal volume, but she must have heard me because the door opened and I was shocked by the woman I saw walk into my room.

There she was, the same girl I saw hugging on Jake at the beach and being affectionate with him. How could it be? How could Rachel have been being that way with her _brother_ of all people?

"Ra-Rachel?" She nodded and gave me a sad smile.

"Hey, Bella. Long time no see." She seemed a little nervous as she strolled over and took a seat next to me on my bed.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" She gave me an all-knowing look before tucking a hair behind my ear.

"I think we both know exactly why I'm here at this late hour at that." She let out a small laugh at the ridiculousness of the midnight visit. I tried to think about why she would be in my room right now then it hit me.

Jake's text that he sent from Quil's phone. He had said something about being able to explain everything.

"Your brother sent you, didn't he?" Rachel scoffed, smirked, and shook her head.

"I came of my own accord. Angela came to beach and ripped him and Embry a new one." I was surprised by this, but not at the same time.

"What? Why would she yell at Embry? He didn't do anything wrong, right?" Rachel shook her head.

"No, but she was little ticked off and took some of that anger out on him. She was really just pissed at Jake, but it was a little misplaced. Tonight was all my fault." My eyes narrowed at her from how confused she had me. How could tonight be her fault? Sure, she had been the one with Jake and I misunderstood that situation, but he still fucking forgot our date when we had schedule it just the evening before?

"How could it possibly be your fault? You didn't do anything wrong that I can see." Rachel turned to me and took my hands in hers.

"Bella, I kept my brother so busy today. I didn't give him or my dad any notice that I was coming home for Spring Break. I was rushing around with Jake all day and the only time we were just hanging around was at the beach party. His plan was to come get you at seven and bring you to the party. He thought you would enjoy getting to see me while I'm back home and have fun at the party before you guys went ahead with whatever you had planned. He kept reminding me that he had to pick you up at a certain time and I tried to keep that in mind, but the party was really crazy. Our plans was just to hang out there for a bit before he had to pick you up, but we lost track of time and he lost his phone somewhere along the way." I continued to listen. My heart still hurt, worse than what I had ever felt before, but I needed to know the truth. "I know what you saw at the beach had to look really bad and I get how you got the idea that my brother was screwing around on you. You wouldn't be first to come to that assumption. Trust me, lots of people have thought that Jake and I were in a relationship instead of being siblings. Really, we are just very close." I wanted an explanation and I didn't even need to ask for one.

"Our family has been through hell and Rebecca was always in her own little world so Jake and I stuck together. We are a lot closer than most brothers and sisters our ages and not in _that_ way. That would just be disgusting. Jake and I haven't seen or really spoken to each other since I left for school so we were just catching up on lost time." I was sure that if I had a brother I would be a lot more understanding of the situation, but I wasn't. I was trying to be, but it was difficult.

"Rachel, I get that you have a special bond with your brother that I will probably never fully understand and you are trying to help defuse the situation, but you're not the one who should be explaining it at all." She nodded with a small smile.

"I know, my brother should be the one explaining what happened tonight, but he couldn't be here because of my dad's curfew." I continued to forget the fact that he had a curfew since I never really had.

"Right, the curfew." I mumbled under my breath and she smirked a little.

"Trust me, he wanted to come, but he knew you wouldn't believe him so I offered to. That way he wouldn't be grounded until he graduates. Trust me when I say my dad is really strict about curfew. Rebecca was only a minute late for curfew once and that was freshman year and she was grounded until the night of her high school graduation. He might seem like a lax parent, but trust me, curfew is his only strict point." That seemed a little overboard, but he was her dad, not mine. The room grew silent for a moment before I softly grabbed her hand.

"Thank you….for coming by. I really appreciate it." I wasn't as upset, but I was still mad at Jake. Even if it was that he lost track of time and the girl he was with was his sister, he still stood me up for a party.

"Don't mention it. Why don't you come by the house in the morning? We can hang out some. If my brother's sleep patterns are consistent with this morning, he won't be up until past noon. I had to wake him up with a bucket of ice water, believe it or not." I couldn't help, but laugh at the image.

"It's a little difficult to believe since he seemed to be such a light sleeper." For a moment, I forgot I was talking to his sister of all people then I became thoroughly embarrassed by mentioning him sleeping.

"Yeah, Dad mentioned your little sleepover this morning." I was beyond mortified by this. "Oh, and a little piece of advice. I'd get on the pill as soon as you can if you aren't already on it. Condoms aren't the best long term form of birth control." Okay, it's official. I am going to die of embarrassment. Wait, not embarrassment. What's a worse word for mortified? Oh, who cares! That's what I was going to die from!

"Rach-" She quickly cut me off with a scoff and a pat to my hand.

"Don't even try to deny that you're sleeping with my brother and I don't mean the kind where snoring is involved. Angela confirmed that at the beach during her yelling at my brother. You don't really think I thought my brother would be a monk forever, do you?" This just made it worse. I was going to deny it just because of who Rachel was, but she didn't seem upset about it.

"Look, I-" She cut me off once more.

"Bella, my brother loves you and it's obvious that you love him, too. I have no idea how long you two have been together, but that doesn't matter. What you have is special and it's something that not many people get to have, especially at sixteen. You don't need to be embarrassed about what you do behind closed doors. It's no one's business, but yours and my brother's. even though our fathers will probably try to make it their business, it's not.

"I was just handing out some friendly advice to you, from one woman to another. I swear, I'm not going to ask any prying questions like anyone else would like how he is in that department because that is just an image I don't want in my head, ever." I couldn't help, but laugh at repulsive look across her face. If she were any more disgusted, she would be vomiting.

"Thank you for the advice and it sounds great for us to get to hang out while you are here. I know I need to talk to him, but it would be better to do once I have some sleep." Rachel gave me a nice, big smile before giving me a hug to go along with it.

"That's great to hear. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. I'm an early riser so just come on over once your up. We can cook some breakfast together or something." She seemed very unsure of the last sentence which I caught very quickly.

"I guess you inherited the 'burning water' Black gene, eh?" Rachel shrugged nonchalantly as she stood up.

"What can I say? I can't cook to save my life, but I can bake up some orgasmic treats."

"I would say that makes up for burning water. How about I cook and you bake?" Rachel flashed a enormous grin as she shot me a thumbs up.

"Sounds like a plan, Swan. I'll see you in the morning." I decided to add one more bit, though it would be so embarrassing to say, as she got to the door.

"Oh, and Rachel?" She turned with a raised eyebrow. "I'd rate him a ten." She looked very confused.

"Huh?" I giggled to myself before flushing burgundy.

"I'd rate Jake a ten in the bedroom department." She looked absolutely mortified as she groaned.

"I said I didn't want to know! Night, Swan!" She practically ran out of my room as I laughed to myself.

I truly hoped that tomorrow would be a good day from all ends of it.

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

**An extra long chapter for my faithful, patient readers. I love you each!**

 **In My Heart**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

I had struggled to sleep all night, but somehow managed to pass out around four in the morning. Next thing I knew, I was woken by the sound of feminine laughter. If it wasn't for the fact that Rachel did me a huge favor last night by going to talk to Bella, I would have been running into the living room to scream at her for waking me up.

Suddenly, I gasped. _Bella!_

I quickly jumped up and out of bed, tumbling to the floor. I groaned as my face smacked into the tile. That hurt like hell!

I rubbed my face before moving to my feet. It didn't hurt bad enough to think I broke my nose, but still hurt.

I stood up and was about to look for some clothes when I realized that I was drenched in sweat and I smelled rancid. I wrinkled my nose before grimacing. This is why I always showered in the morning. If I showered before bed, it was just a waste of water. It didn't used to be an issue, but more and more lately, I wake up in a pool of my own sweat.

I grabbed some clean clothes and a towel before I went to shower.

It was good to feel all clean. After showering, I toweled myself off, got dressed, and made my way out the bathroom. The laughter was louder now than before my shower.

I groaned and made my way down the hall. I was shocked when I peeked to the kitchen table and saw Bella and Rachel chatting away. They were talking about some guy at Rachel's school.

"...then, this guy comes to my dorm door on Valentine's day with roses, wearing this really expensive suit. He was like 'oh, Rachel. You are my one true love and I want to spend my life with hoh' and a lot of those crazy, romantic shit." Bella nodded as she listened closely. "All I had to say was 'what is your name'." Bella laughed aloud at this whole clutching her gut.

"You really didn't know his name? That's horrible!"

"No, really! We had some classes together and his dorm was down the hall from mine, but I had never talked to him before. I mean, he was hot, but I didn't know anything about him!" Bella rolled her eyes at this.

It was soothing, seeing Bella smiling and laughing. She was so beautiful. Her hair shined and her skin glowed with delight. I took mental pictures of her like this for when times were tough.

Rachel looked up and saw me there before smirking.

"Hey, Jake. Sleeping in again?" She teased then Bella's eyes lifted to mine, hers filled with sadness and disappointment.

"Hey." I said, a little nervous of this confrontation, and her eyes down casted to her mug of, I assumed, coffee. She took it in her hands and took a small sip from it.

"Hey yourself." She whispered softly and my heart ached from the pain in her voice.

Rachel looked up to me with an ache in her eyes before she mouthed 'she's still mad at you'. I nodded before sighing.

"Well, I need to run to get some stuff from the store. That should give you two some time to talk." Rachel jumped up, patted Bella's shoulder, and walked to the front door.

Bella stood up with her empty plate and cup of coffee in hand, going into the kitchen. I walked behind her then watched as she emptied her cup in the sink and scrapped the reminisce of food from her plate into the trash can.

I wasn't sure what to do or say. She was just so sad. Since she was there with Rachel, talking and laughing, I knew that she knew I hadn't cheated on her, but she was still both mad and sad. What would be the right thing to say?

I'm sorry? I screwed up? I love you so much, please don't leave me? None of these things seemed right.

I could tell she was about to start washing her dish so I took her hand in mine. I thought this might be the best way to start, but it just backfired.

She spun around, a fire in her eyes, and snatched her hand away from me before shouting. "Don't touch me!" I was taken back by her sudden outburst.

"Bella, I-" I wasn't sure what I was going to say, but she stopped it before I even really got started on my grovelling.

"Don't 'Bella' me, Jacob!" Damn, she called me Jacob instead of Jake. Now, I know I'm in trouble. "Cancel out the fact that you and _your_ sister we're clinging to each other in the most disgusting public display I have _ever_ seen between siblings before in my life, do you even realize what the fuck you did? You fucking stood me up! On our first date!" Damn, I should have known this was what would piss her off.

Rachel and I weren't doing anything, but hugging and yeah we kissed each other on the cheek, but we had been like that since we were little kids. We were just close and friendly. Still, I could tell this still bothered her. I needed to make a mental note not to be like this with Rachel anymore. It wasn't worth Bella being upset and I'm sure Rachel would understand.

"I don't know what happened. I had set an alarm on my phone for when I needed to leave to come get you, but I somehow lost it. I know that doesn't excuse it, but it's true. I know there were a lot of ways to avoid that happening and I should have, but it all just comes down to I was being stupid. I was an idiot. I'm sorry." I really felt terrible about all of this happening and it was all my fault. I had hurt her and I never wanted to do that.

I could tell, while I was making my speech, that her anger was slowly melting away, her eyes were softening, and she was struggling to hold onto it.

She wanted to stay angry at me, but she also understood how things happened the way they did.

"Yeah, you could have done things differently and should have. Since when do you go to parties? You hate parties!" I smirked knowingly and I could see she knew that I knew she wasn't as pissed as she had been.

"Rachel dragged me." I pushed out quickly before putting my arms around her waist. She knew her intention had been caught, but she still scowled. She was so sexy when she tried to look mad.

"Don't." She tried to challenge, but I bent down a little closer to her, nuzzling her affectionately.

"I know you aren't mad at me anymore." Her breath caught as her eyes locked with mine. "Do you realize how hot you are when you try to act all angry?" Then she blushed and God she was so gorgeous when she was blushing like that.

"Stop it. I want to be mad at you." She demanded and I chortled while stroking her flushed cheek.

"But, it's so much better when you're not." Then, I gave her a sweet kiss. She relaxed into me and moved her arms around my neck, pulling me closer to her. I slowly pulled out of the kiss and pressed my forehead to hers. "I love you, Bells, so much." She completely relaxed in my arms and nodded.

"I love you." I smirked before my mind drifted to how hopeless I felt last night. I frowned and cupped her face in my hands. I needed to feel that she was really there, not angry with me anymore.

"I thought I had lost you. That was the worst feeling in the world, thinking I had lost this forever." Her eyes saddened and she nodded like she understood how that felt.

"I know. Just...don't do that again. Promise me?" I knew she wasn't talking about just me losing track of time. She was also talking about how close me and Rachel were. I would do anything for that girl.

"I promise, honey. You don't have to worry about that." I got it. She was never comfortable with other girls around me except Angela and to see me being affectionate with any other woman had to have hurt her, even if it was my sister.

I swore I would never do something like that in front of her again.

"Thank you." I kissed her sweetly and then pulled her into my arms. I didn't hear her crying, but I felt the tears on my shirt. My heart broke at that. My stupidity did this to her. "My sister will be back soon." I whispered to her and she nodded, wiped away her tears, before looking up at me.

"You're right." I smirked at her before looking around.

"Where is my dad?" I asked casually and she laughed at the sudden change of subject.

"He went fishing with my dad. Said they were going to be gone until tomorrow afternoon. Since Rachel is here, Charlie asked if I could stay here or just stay at Angela's house." I was happy to hear this. With my dad gone, that meant no curfew tonight and I could spend a lot of alone time with her.

"Good. Let's go to my room." I grabbed her hand and dragged her down the hall, laughing.

"You expecting another day full of sex?" I smirked at her as I opened my bedroom door.

"Just wanting some privacy with my girlfriend, but I like the way you think." I winked at her and she blushed before pulling off her hoodie that was covering a very revealing camisole. It dipped low into her cleavage and was tight against those gorgeous breasts of hers.

Fuck, I was in trouble here!

* * *

I was beyond pissed. This little shit just couldn't heed a warning! I told him if he went seeking her out that I would tell Charlie about him fucking her over, but he just didn't listen!

I knew, once I went to Bella's house to check on her and she wasn't there, that there was only one other place she would be.

The Black house.

I was glad my mom let me borrow her car to check on Bella. She didn't know what was going on, but she was still helpful.

I sped to La Push and saw Bella's truck parked in front of Jake's house.

I was pissed!

I jumped out the car and ran up the porch steps, going into the house unannounced. I saw Rachel sitting on the couch, watching TV with the volume blaring, which confused me.

I took the remote from her and turned it down low enough that I could hear her and vice versa.

"Hey, Angela. What's up?" She asked casually, but I was angry.

"Where is Bella?" She snickered at this and seemed to be oblivious to my anger.

"In Jake's room with him, but I wouldn't go in there if I were you." I didn't care what she said. I was getting my friend out of the bad confrontation she was probably in right then.

Why the hell did he have to drag her here in the first place? Why couldn't he just let her get over him in peace? He was the who screwed her over, not the other way around.

I stormed down the hall to Jake's room and pushed the door wide open angrily. It took me a second to register exactly what I was seeing in front of me. Then I was shocked _and_ pissed.

Jake and Bella were in his bed, in the sheets, with Bella moaning and screaming while he rammed himself into her. If it weren't for them being under his sheet then I would be completely mortified by this.

I never wanted to see either of them naked. Until the night before, Jake was my boyfriend's best friend which made him like an annoying brother, but now he wasn't because I broke up with Embry. Bella was my best friend and he had broken her.

"What the fuck are you doing!" They didn't stop when I yelled this, he continued in on her and her moans got louder. His head snapped around as he groaned.

"Get out! We are busy here!" I wasn't about to kick them out that bed because God knows I didn't want to see either of them naked, but I didn't know what to do.

I figured this was going to have to wait until they were done.

I closed the door and walked out into the living room where Rachel was laughing.

"I told you not to go in there. They made up this morning so I'm guess you caught them having make up sex." I scowled at her.

"This isn't over." I said as I moved to sit next to her on the couch.

"Just watch the show." Then she turned up the volume to drown out the sex noises and banging in the next room.

I whimpered as Jake drove himself deep into me over and over again, bringing me to the brink of my next orgasm.

I clung to him as he started biting at my neck. God, he was so amazing in bed.

I screamed out as my orgasm hit, sending convulsions through my body with a euphoric haze. He instinctively slowed down to a snail's pace then I lightly pushed on his chest, still a little weak.

"What's wrong, baby?" He pulled out as I rubbed his chest. God, he had the most amazing torso covering in muscles ever. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was hot!

"Nothing." I finally regained myself before pushing him to lay down and slowly impaled myself on him, getting a groan from him.

Pressing my hands on his chest and sitting on my knees, I rocked him in and out of my, rolling my hips a lot like he did which hit all the spots he did when he was on top, but he was so much deeper like this.

Slowly, he started meeting my movements, one hand on my hip and the other on my bouncing breast. I whimpered as he groaned.

"Fuck, Bells. I need to have you on top more often. You're so good at that." I mewled as he sat up, engulfed me in his arms, and started kissing my lustrously. I continued to move the way I had been, but picked up the pace, thrusting up and down him, meeting his own pressure.

"Jake, oh, God." He grunted as his thrusts became out of control. He started slamming into me, ramming his cock so good, fast, and hard into me.

"You're gonna make me cum." I cried out as he brought me to the edge of an orgasm and started to tease my clit with his thumb. "Cum with me, baby." I screamed out as I squeezed his climax right out of him. I could feel it shooting into the condom and that was a little hot to be honest.

I loved knowing that I had made him feel that good.

I quickly kissed him as he let out his last couple thrusts before he relaxed into the bed.

I slowly moved back onto my knees, carefully moving to pull him out of my core. We both groaned as he exited and I laid down next to him. I watched as he slowly removed the condom, making sure to catch all of that delicious cum of his.

He tied it off and tossed it in the trashcan next to his bed where I saw the box of condoms sticking of his drawer. While he was relaxing into the bed, I noticed how many were missing. I counted the amount of condoms and did the math.

The box said it was a hundred count, but there was only sixty-nine condoms there. That meant thirty-one had been used since he got the box, only two months ago. We had only used five of them which left twenty-six still unaccounted for.

I looked to him, a little hurt. I knew it was impossible for him to have used that many since we got together so that wasn't the thought that entered my mind that hurt. It was that Jake had lied to me when he said he had never had sex before we did.

Who was he having sex with between us fooling around the night he stayed at my house and us getting together?

"What?" He noticed the look on my face before moving closer to me. His arm moved around my waist and I didn't stop him. Maybe I had no right to be upset. We weren't dating, but it had still felt like I had ownership of him.

"I'm trying my best not to accuse you of anything here." I spoke my voice low and he moved closer, worry in his eyes.

"Yeah?" He egged me on and I gulped, very worried about his answer.

"Who...have you...been...having sex with?" He looked at me surprised then laughing, laying back down in bed. "What's so funny?" I questioned him and he rolled his eyes.

"I've only been having sex with you, babe

You know that." I couldn't believe that from the twenty-six missing condoms.

"No, you haven't or there wouldn't be twenty-six condoms unaccounted for in this box here, that's not including the ones you have used with me." He looked very entertained by how hard this was for me, having a conversation like this. He just rolled his eyes at me for this.

"God, Bells. Is this going to be a constant thing now? You constantly accusing me of cheating on you?" I huffed and got out of bed which seemed to get his attention. "Come on, honey. Get back in bed." I slipped on my underwear and my bra with tears in my eyes.

Why couldn't he just be truthful with me?

"I wasn't accusing you of anything." He sat up and groaned.

"Yes, you were. You asked who I have been having sex with and when I said just you then you come back with saying I'm lying." I shook my head and pulled on my camisole. "What are you doing?" I struggled to find my jeans among the pile of our clothes.

"I'm going home." Almost instantly, I was pulled into his lap and he craned my head back, seeing the tears down my face.

"Bella, why are you crying?" I shook my head and tried to get up, but he just pulled me right back down.

"Why are you lying to me? I just asked a simple question and it didn't entail an admission of cheating. Why can't you just tell me the truth?" I sobbed as he looked at me with such sad eyes.

"Why won't you believe me? You're the only one I've been with or want to be with." I shook my head and forced myself out of his lap, continuing the search for my damn socks.

"That is a 100-count box of condoms. There are sixty-nine condoms in the box and we only used five. Sixty-nine plus five doesn't equal a hundred which means you lied to me about me being your first because I know there is no way you could have had sex twenty-six times between you leaving my house the night before last and this morning. Well, you could have, but that would have been pretty fucking difficult with constantly having people around. So I'm gonna go home until you can be truthful with me and stop lying about me being your first." I went to pull on my jeans when he finally spoke.

"Bella, I didn't use those missing condom, I swear." I huffed at this and started to pull up my jeans, but it was a struggle in my emotional state. "Honey, everyone knows I have this box. Well, everyone that matters. I didn't see us having sex for a long time so when Embry or Quil came asking for some, I told them to take as many as they wanted, that I didn't mind at all." I froze when I heard him say this and he took my hand. "Baby, I haven't had sex with anyone, but you. You're the only one I want." I started to cave and nodded as I wiped away my tears.

This did seem like a plausible explanation. Embry had Angela and I knew those two were constantly having sex and Quil was, well, Quil. He tried to fuck anything that moved.

"I wasn't trying to accuse you. I just wanted to know what happened to them." He nodded before pulling me to sit next to him.

"Then, just ask instead going straight for the whole cheating thing." I was done fighting. I wasn't going to go on the defensive and say how I wasn't accusing him again. I had said it enough.

He gave me a sweet kiss and wiped away my tears.

"I hate seeing you cry unless they are happy tears." I snickered at this and relaxed next to him.

Soon, we both got dressed and went into the living room. I was surprised to see Angela there and look so pissed at that. I never saw Angela as scary, but she was one woman you did not want to get riled up.

I clung to Jake's arm like I did the night we met, but this time it was more fearful. I loved Jacob, but if she attacked, I was pushing him in front of me. He was way more capable of going a few rounds with Angela than I was.

"Hey, Ang." I tried to sound casual, but I was a little frightened of her right then.

"Hey? That's what you have to say?" She stood up. I noticed that Rachel looked a little entertained by this. "And you!" She turned her eyes to Jake who sported a happy smile. Man, that was going to piss her off even more. "I told you to stay the hell away from her after what you did last night!" Jake just rolled his eyes and threw his arm over my shoulder. My hand instantly went to his chest as I watched the exchange.

"She was already here when I woke up this morning." He justified and Rachel butted in.

"Actually, it was more like noon." I scowled at her and she snickered.

"Why would you even come here after what happened last night? He cheated on you and stood you up!" I was nervous, but I knew I was in the right.

"Jake didn't cheat on me. It was a misunderstanding." I could tell she didn't believe this for a second. "The girl I saw was Rachel." This seemed to shock Angela.

"What?" I nodded.

"She came to my house last night to explain then I came over this morning to talk things out with Jake and I did. He had lost his phone which is why he lost track of time and I believe him." I stood my ground and I noticed her relax, but then I saw the remorse and guilt on her face.

"Oh, my God." Then I remembered what Rachel had said last night, how Angela had ripped Embry a new one because of what I had seen.

She was probably in big trouble with him.

"Embry." She whispered and Jake chuckled.

"Trust me. He's probably just sulking waiting for you to take back dumping his ass. Knowing him, he isn't mad." Oh my God! Angela actually dumped him because of me?! Now, I felt horrible.

"Yeah, I need to go talk to him." She came over and I was shocked when she hugged me, but I gratefully took it.

"I'm sorry this caused you so much trouble." She shook her head and smirked at me.

"No, it's okay. I'm happy you guys are good now. I'm gonna go find Embry." I nodded as she left and turned to Jake.

"Did she really break up with him?" Jake nodded.

"He ran off as soon as she did, too. He was really upset. He was shaking and everything. I've never really seen him like that before." Jake seemed worried, but then he smiled. "But, I'm sure he'll be fine once they talk." Then, all conversation was stalled by a very loud wolf howl which made me jump.

"Was that really a wolf?" Jake laughed at this and nodded as did Rachel.

"Yeah, there are a lot of them in these woods. Just keep your distance from them and they are friendly, I promise. Just protective of their pack." I wasn't sure if I should believe that, but Jake knew more about it than I would. "Come on, Bells. Let's go to the beach and see if we can track down my phone."

* * *

We were lucky enough to find it right near the path from Jake's house to the beach where it must have fallen out of his pocket. There was no damage done to it so he felt lucky about finding it.

He urged me to go home and change my clothes into something more 'comfortable' which I thought was strange. I was pretty comfortable in my jeans and camisole, but he was adamant and I did as he asked.

I decided to surprise him with wearing my date clothes I had picked out the night before. He had only seen me in a skirt once before, but I could tell he liked it when I wore one. I brushed my hair and let it lay on my shoulder in the soft waves that came after it was all brushed.

I went back out to my truck and drove to the beach. He had asked me to meet back up with him here so I did. I was surprised when I saw him standing near the forest edge wearing a nice pair of dark blue jeans and a dark blue dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up his forearms and the first two buttons undone at the top.

God, he looked so handsome. He even had his hair back in a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck.

I got out of the truck and was so surprised by his appearance that I giggled to myself.

"What's with the change?" I asked and he smirked at me.

"Well, touche." He teased and I flushed before he gave me a sweet kiss. "I did promise you a date last night, but I screwed up so, since our dads are out of the way until tomorrow, we are having our date today." I was shocked, but excited by the prospect of us finally having our date.

"Okay. Where are we going?" He took my hand and lead me down the edge of the cliff beside us. I was confused. Where was he taking me?

But, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

I found that he was leading me to a small cave carved out of the side of the cliff. It was pretty big from the looks of it, but it was also dark as night in there.

He pulled out a flashlight from his back pocket and pointed it into the cave. Yup, it seemed neverending.

"Wow." He chuckled and squeezed my hand before walking us into it. I took notice of the endless drawings on the walls. Animals, trees, and people were depicted.

It was so beautiful!

"This is amazing! Did people in the tribe do all this?" He nodded with a victorious smirk.

"Pretty cool, huh?" I nodded and he pointed to a group of drawing further in the cave and we stopped in front of them.

"This is the story of Taha Aki, the chief I told you about." I was really excited to see this one. I absolutely loved that story.

The one thing about it that I found strange was the start of it. There were the drawings of three people standing together, one wearing a chief's headdress, and the other two were scratched out.

"Why are they scratched out?" I asked and he shrugged.

"No one really knows. My guess would be it's his mother and father and their memory was painful so he had them scratched out of the drawings. If you see right here on this one, it's a skirt which is meant to signify a woman." I nodded. It was like a stick figure with a triangle through the torso which made sense. I looked along the cave drawing of Taha Aki's story and it amazed me. There was the wolf, the false chief, and everything Jake had spoke about except one thing. I didn't see the son Jake had told me about.

"Where is Taha Aki's son?" I asked, maybe I just hadn't seen him yet, but Jake shrugged.

"Not sure. There are a lot of stories here so his story must just be somewhere else. A lot didn't think his sacrifice was important." That was sad. The man had died to get to the truth, but no one thought he was important. It was terrible!

The drawings were detailed for cave drawings and so mesmerizing. It was beautiful!

Then, I saw something that caught my eye. It was a drawing at the end of Taha Aki's story. There he was, the chief, but he had three rings next to him, two facing towards the rest of his story, while the last one was away from it, each having a woman on the other side of the drawing.

"What is this about?" I asked and he chuckled.

"Taha Aki was told to have lived three lifetimes and, each one, he had a wife. He had his first wife, then she passed on, his second wife, the same with her and he was about to marry again when he met a woman in the village he hadn't come across before. He experienced what can only be described as a spiritual experience when he first laid eyes on her.

"To him, she was the most important person who had ever or would ever come into his life. Nothing else mattered. He would do anything, be anything for her. She was it. He couldn't imagine life without her." I thought this was such a beautiful concept, to have someone love you so fully. It was something all women hoped for, but it was very unlikely to get.

While he telling of this, he moved behind me and wrapped me in his arms, holding me close.

"That's really beautiful, to love someone like that." I spoke low as I gently touched the ring between Taha Aki and this woman Jake spoke of.

"Not many can say that they have." He whispered in my ear before kissing my temple.

"Which is what makes it so special when someone does. It's the thing of fairy tales." He chuckled before hugging me close.

"I can say I have because that is how my love for you is." My heart skipped when he said this. Did he really mean this or was he just saying that for my benefit?

"Do you mean that?" I asked before turning to him and I saw the most lovesick look in his eyes as he gazed down at me, a small smile placing on his lips.

"With all my heart." He gave me such a sweet kiss.

I was so ecstatic that he shared something like this with me. It made me feel so much more confident in our love. I already was, but it gave me more footing for that confidence.

He relaxed the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine.

"Come on, Bells. This isn't all of our date." I nodded as he took my hand and lead me the rest of the way into the cave. I was surprised when I saw a picnic blanket laid out on the ground with a small picnic basket on it.

"This is definitely an original place for a picnic, Jake." He laughed and lead me to the blanket where we sat down. He grabbed a bottle of water out of the basket and handed it to me. It was ice cold.

"This was what I planned for our date last night, to bring you in here. I thought you would like it since you've shown a lot of interest in the tribal histories." I blushed at this and nodded shortly.

"This is amazing, Jake. I can't imagine any date being better than this." I could tell from the joyful look on his face that he was glad that he made up for last night.

"I'm glad. Hopefully, I can keep coming up with good date ideas." I rolled my eyes at this before he handed me a sandwich from the basket and I slipped off my shoes, crossing my legs.

"Jake, we don't have to go on dates. I'm perfectly happy hanging out in the garage or in your house. I'm not one of those girls that needs to be going on dates every Friday night to be happy. As long as we're together, I'm happy." He smirked before giving me a sweet kiss.

"Thanks, Bells, but I like going out with you. We can just do simple things." This sounded nice to me so I nodded and took a small bite out of my sandwich.

The date was nice. We ate our sandwiches, him way more than me, and we had fun just talking as I was cuddled up next to him.

"This has been nice." I said as he smirked while stroking my back.

"Yeah, but you know…" He had a teasing glimmer in his eyes as his finger trailed from my cheek down to my cleavage which made me blush. "There is one thing that would really make this a perfect date and I think you know what it is." He took his hand from my chest and trailed it up my leg, under my skirt. I got the request loud and clear, but I decided to play with him a bit.

"Oh, my Lord! No self respecting girl has sex on a first date." He looked at me disbelieving and I stuck my tongue out at him for added measure.

"Oh, so before the first date is okay? How about after?" He wiggled his eyebrow at me and I snickered.

"Oh, yeah as long as it's not _on_ the date." We both laughed before he kissed me so passionately. My hands buried in his hair, pulling him closer before a thought hit me. I quickly pushed him back and he looked surprised. "Condom?" He laughed and nodded.

"Yup. I'm prepared." I relaxed as he moved over me and we started kissing again, his hand moving up my skirt.

I was in anticipation for him. My gut was already clinching, awaiting him to make me his.

Then, we were interrupted by the loud sound of rock music playing that was coming from his pocket. He groaned as he pulled back, both of us breathless.

"You are being summoned." He groaned before sitting back on his knees.

"I am turning this off after I answer this." I nodded as I rubbed his legs, waiting for the phone call to be over already. "Hello?...What?...No, no, slow down, Angela." I sat up when he said her name and my arousal was gone, replaced with worry. "I'm coming, okay? Just calm down." He hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket. " We have to go now." I nodded and stood off the blanket, slipping on my shoes.

"What's going on?" He shrugged while shoving everything in the basket.

"Embry's missing. He never went home last night." I gasped when he said this and I quickly went through what I could only assume was an adrenaline rush. I helped him pack everything up and we hurried back to Jake's house where we found Angela in tears on the porch with a Native American woman by her side, clinging to her arm.

I quickly sat down the picnic basket and hugged Angela who was struggling to hold herself together.

"Embry didn't come home last night?" Jake asked and the woman nodded. She was frantic with worry and I realized this was Embry's mom.

"No, he didn't. He's never done this before, Jake. We need to find him." I watched as he nodded. I had never seen him look so stoic, like he was so business like. I expected him to be freaking out, but he wasn't.

"We will find him. Has anyone called Quil? Maybe he's with him." Jake seemed so deep in thought so I was the one who spoke up. Embry's mom looked at me confused.

"Who are you?" She asked as if she hadn't noticed me there this whole time.

"Angela's my best friend, Jake's my boyfriend, and Embry's my friend. I'm Bella." She nodded before looking to Jake who was pulling out his phone, probably calling Quil.

"Hey, man." He called over the phone and I noticed an edge to his stance. "Have you seen Em?" He asked and then groaned. "He's missing. Get to my house and bring your granddad, okay?" He let out a nod and hung up. "Come on, let's get inside. We'll figure this out."

 **1) I know it might seem like this story is taking a while to develop, but it's because there are a lot of necessary events that must occur before we get to the real story line.**

 **2) A lot have mentioned Jake phasing, but I am following the chronological order of the books concerning who phases and when. Jake will phase in a few chapters, but time wise its a couple months.**

 **3) I'm expecting to have over forty chapters with this story so let's hope I can post more often.**

 **Review and I'll try my best to respond quickly!**

 **3**


	15. Chapter 15

**As a writer, I know the maority of the reviews a chapter will get comes in the first twenty four hours after posting and I only got two. Did you guys not like it? Even if you don't, i'd like to know. Still, I love you guys and am giving you another update.**

 **In My Heart**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

Things had been strained recently with the absence of one of our group. Embry had been found after being gone for a week. Apparently, he decided to get all friendly with Sam Uley.

I didn't even know Sam had been found. That was something that had slipped my mind. I found out from Jake all about that.

Sam had come back weeks ago and was very antisocial suddenly. He didn't even spend time with Leah at all. She had been thinking Sam was cheating on her because of how often he was claiming to be busy and didn't want others around. His mom was really worried about him, but the council wasn't at all. They thought he was just fine.

Pretty quickly after that the same thing happened to Paul Lahote, the boy who had attacked me on the beach, and a kid named Jared Cameron. Then suddenly those three kids were attached to each other with Jared and Paul following Sam around like lost puppies.

A lot thought Sam was suddenly a drugged up gang leader and was collecting those to follow him.

No one expected Embry to be the next to join Sam and his posse.

He wouldn't even take Angela's calls or texts. She was so torn up over it. He suddenly wanted nothing to do with her, no matter how much she tried to call to apologize.

Tiffany, Embry's mom, couldn't even get through to him. She tried everything. Grounding him didn't even work. He just snuck out every single night and he was skipping school.

I had even seen him around the reservation and he looked nothing like the Embry I knew. He was a stranger. He gave me nasty looks like I was the enemy, like I was his rival, not his friend.

* * *

I had seen Angela cry way too much over Embry since he went missing three months ago. After all this time apart, she was still madly in love with him. It was something that gave you hope for an endless love that never died, ever, but it also broke your heart.

I was now pissed at his behavior. He had hurt Angela for the last fucking time!

I parked my truck in front of the Call house and I charged up the porch steps. I slammed my fist against the front door before Tiffany answered and looked surprised to see me.

"Is he here?" She shrugged with defeat.

"But what do I know? I don't know what to do about him anymore." I nodded and looked down the hall.

"Trust me. I'm planning on shoving my foot up his ass ten ways from Sunday." She nodded as I ran down the hall and pushed open his bedroom door. I could see he was passed out in his bed.

This just pissed me off even more. While he was sleeping, Angela was slipping further into a deep, consuming depression.

I charged over to his bed and, using all the strength I had in my body, I flipped the mattress with him on it. I heard him groan before I kicked the mattress on top of him.

"Get the fuck up!" I yelled before kicking at him again and he peaked out from under the mattress before groaning.

"What the fuck, Bella? What are you even doing here?" He grumbled like he was planning on going back to sleep where he was laying, but I was not letting him. I pushed the mattress off of him and groaned in frustration.

"Get the fuck up, Em! I'm not going to tell you again! Next time, I'm pulling a Rachel and pouring ice cold water on you and I don't care how much it pisses you off!" I was surprised when he actually growled before moving to his feet. It was a rarity before to actually see Embry even irritated, let alone pissed, but he was definitely angry now.

"What the hell are you doing here? What right do you have to come in when I'm asleep and pull this shit, Swan?" I scowled when he said this.

"Because I am sick and tired of this whole self-destructive thing you have going on. Are you even thinking about who you are hurting by turning into Sam's little bitch? What about your mom? Jake? Quil? Angela?" His anger seemed to cease once I said her name and he looked sorrowful. "Yeah, Angela. You remember her? The girl you claimed to be madly in love with when I met you and now she's nothing! The dirt on the bottom of your fucking shoes seems to hold more value to you than she does now!" This seemed to just bring back his anger.

"You don't know what you're talking about." I huffed at this.

"Really? I don't know what I'm talking about? I may not know what you are doing with Sam's gang, but I do know a couple of things, Embry. I know that, even after all the heartache, loneliness, and pain you have put Angela through, after three months has passed since she last even saw you, she still loves you and it fucking kills her that you're doing this bullshit. Did you even know that she still checks in with your mom every fucking day to see how you are? Even when you won't even speak to her?" This seemed to make him sad again. Good, he should feel bad about this. "What happened? You switched playing fields? Decided you wanted Sam to give it to you?" I threw that at him. I wanted him to be mad, but mad at himself. Angela deserved better than this.

"You don't get to talk about what is going on in my life! You don't know anything!"

"I know enough! You seemed to have just punked out when things got tough! What the hell happened to you? What the fuck did Sam do to you?" He growled at this.

"Sam has been helping me for fuck sake!" That was the first time he actually said anything in relation to what was happening with him so I silenced myself so he could have the floor. His eyes darkened, rage filling him, and he looked liked he would kill me. "Don't blame Sam for this. You want to throw daggers at someone for Angela's pain? Why aren't you throwing stones at those leeches glass house!" I wasn't sure what he meant by that? Leeches?

"Huh? Leeches? I don't know" He didn't even let me finish my sentence before he went on.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about! You've been lying to everyone about them! The whole 'they are normal' thing when that is absolute bullshit! Have you even told Jake or Angela the truth about them? You spend so much time with those disgusting Cullens. There is no way you don't know." I was absolutely baffled. What was he going on about?

"Embry, I have absolutely no idea what you are going on about. I only see the Cullens at school and summer just started so I don't have the faintest idea what you are going on about. What would they have to do with you hanging with Sam and following him around like a lost puppy?" He looked like I just dropped the biggest bombshell in the world to him. What was his deal?

"You-you really don't know, do you?" I shrugged, completely baffled by whatever was going on with him.

"If I knew what you were referring to, I could tell you if I did know, but I don't." He seemed to lose the whole 'you are my enemy' look about him and I tried to calm myself. "Embry, I want to help you. All of us do, but we can't help you if we don't know what's wrong. Just tell me and we can all help you fix it. Please?" He looked tongue-tied before he groaned.

"Just leave. There is nothing you can do and I have nothing left to say to you, Jake, Quil, or Angela." I wanted to beg some more, but then he said something that absolutely pissed me off. "Enjoy the time you have left with Jake. It won't be long until he'll be in the same spot as I am." There was no way in hell I was letting that happen.

As hard as I could, I slapped him clear across the face, but he seemed unmoved.

I stormed out, more pissed off than ever, and went out to my truck, clutching my throbbing hand. That was like slapping a brick wall. What the fuck?

I drove my truck the short distance to Jake's house where Jake, Quil, and Angela we're standing on the porch like they were waiting for me.

I parked and jumped out, holding my hand. Jake looked excited to see me, then worried as he ran over to me.

"What's wrong with your hand?" I shook my head as he wrapped his arms around my waist, leading me up the porch steps.

"Are you okay?" Angela asked and I groaned, hissing as I closed my fist. I opened it back up because I could feel the sting within my hand getting worse with the strain.

"Not really, but I will be. I didn't break anything. It just hurts like hell." I could feel Jake's worry radiating off of him in waves.

"I'm gonna get you some ice." I nodded as he raced into the house and I sat on the steps while Quil sat on one side and Angela on the other.

"What happened? How did you hurt your hand?" Angela asked and I caved.

"I went to talk to Embry." They gasped, but then I heard the angry voice of Jake from behind me.

"He did that to you?" I watched as he jumped off the steps and stood in front of me, handing me the ice wrapped in a towel which I pressed to my aching palm.

"Yes and no. I slapped him so it's my fault." Angela seemed upset by this.

"Why did you slap him?" I groaned then hissed as I pressed the ice more into my palm.

"Because he was being a dumbass. He kept going on and on about how Sam was helping him with something and something about the Cullens then he made some stupid fucking comment that made me just so fucking mad. I wanted to punch him, but knowing my luck, I would have broke my hand." Everyone was upset now, but no one spoke. The air stayed silent for so long.

Everyone missed Embry, but I wasn't sure what else to do to fix this problem.

* * *

Jake and I had a pretty good setup and routine for alone time and to keep Billy from walking in on us like Angela had. There was no noise around and we could enjoy each other's company, but it took a lot for it to be that we were alone.

In other words, we struggled to get Angela and Quil to leave.

So, there we stood, in the doorway of the garage, struggling to get Quil to just go. Angela was more willing than I expected her to be, but she understood more than Quil would that Jake and I needed our alone time. It was great hanging out with Angela and Quil, but all couples needed their time alone together. We weren't asking for more than a normal couple would, right?

"Come on, guys!" Quil argued as Angela started to lead him out of the garage and Jake sweetly had his arm around my shoulder. I really found this all entertaining, but Jake seemed to think Quil's behavior was ridiculous.

"No, Quil. Come on, now. Let's go, I don't know, play video games or something. They need their private time. Trust me, you don't want to see what they do during their time alone." Angela tried to egg on Quil to leave, but he was adamant.

"Jake, I swear, you get laid more than any guy I know our age." I thought this statement was hilarious. We didn't have sex every time we wanted to be alone. A lot of the time, yes, but not every time. Quil was acting like he thought that Jake and I were doing this just for sex. Even couples that aren't having sex need time alone, right?

"Bye, Quil!" I waved as Jake closed the garage door with a sigh of relax.

I was getting a little worried about Jake. He seemed a lot more tense than he used to be and it was getting worse every day. I wondered if it was something he didn't want Angela or Quil to know about because he wouldn't talk about whatever was bothering him around them so I hoped he could talk to just me about it. It was one of the great things about us, he could always talk to me.

I watched as he locked the chain around the door handles to prevent anyone from coming in. This is really why we chose the garage, but also because it was our special place. This garage, so dubbed the Taj Mahal, was where Jake had first kissed me. Yes, it was really brief, but it signified the beginning of our beautiful romance.

I reached up and started to gently massage his back and he seemed to relax under my touch. I kissed his shirt between his shoulder blades before he let out a sigh of contentment.

"You're so tense." I whispered with my worried voice and he turned to me, a grateful smirk on his face. He quickly put his arms around me and I laid my head on his chest. His chin rested on the top of my head as he just held me so affectionately.

"This is exactly what I needed. Just you and me, baby." I smiled to myself from this sweet thing he said.

"Is there something bothering you? You can tell me." I said back to him as he rubbed my back and walked us over to the couch. He took a seat and pulled me into his lap, straddling him. I stared deep into his eyes as I examined the shadow under his eyes. They were so worrisome. "What's wrong, Jake?" I asked and he sighed.

"Nothing, just been having some strange dreams. They've been making it hard to sleep." He admitted. What kind of dreams would be making him lose sleep? Was it about Billy? Embry? Me? His mom?

"Tell me about them." He smirked appreciatively before relaxing into the couch.

"They start out normal. I'm walking out of the house like I would any other time. Then, I'm running to the woods. I keep running and, after a little while, I'm not running on my legs, but I'm running on all four. I'm not sure why, but I am. I keep running, hearing the forest, so peaceful and everything." I nodded for him to continue and he sighed. "Then, I start hearing these voices in my head and they are talking so fast and saying such different things that I can't make out what they are saying." I gave him another nod and stroked his cheek to try to make him feel better about this. It usually worked really well, but he still was pretty upset by this. "Then, I'm right next to a stream and all the voices stop and it's quiet again. I walk up to the creek and look down into the water where I see my reflection and it isn't me that I see in the reflection, but this big, reddish-brown wolf looking back at me in my reflection. After that, I wake up." I was truly surprised by this dream of his. Usually, dreams were a reflection of things people worried about or their past experiences, but this made no sense for Jake. The voices and the wolf? It wasn't something that was characteristic of him.

"Do you know why you are having this dream?" I asked him and he frowned, shaking his head.

"It scares the crap out of me, Bells." This pulled at my heart and I quickly hugged him, pressing my face into his neck for support. "It's making me feel like I'm losing myself to whatever this dream is about. I can't even explain it." It hurt to hear him say something like that.

"You listen to me." I pulled back and cupped his face in my hands, forcing his eyes to mine. He looked very worried and pessimistic. "You don't need to worry about this dream. It's just that, a dream. I'm _never_ going to let you lose yourself, Jake. It's you and me, remember?" A hopeful smirk rose across his lips as he stared back at me.

"How can you promise something like that?" I pressed my forehead to his as he pulled me closer to him, rubbing his hands up and down my back sensually.

"Because I can. As long as you have me, Jake, which you always will, I will never let you lose sight of who you are. You are Jacob Black, the love of my life, the best man I know. No one could ever take that from you." His eyes showed that I warmed his heart with what I said. It was true. I knew, in my heart, that Jake was it for me. We complimented each other so well.

Jake and I had things about us that were alike like some experiences, but we were pretty different. It was these differences, though, that made us so perfect for each other. He was a mechanic, I was a bookworm. I could cook and he couldn't, but he made one damn good sou chef.

His mouth came down on mine passionately as I clung to him, moaning from the loving kiss he gave me. Quickly, he laid me on the couch, rubbing his hands up and down my body, gripping and massaging me in all the right places.

"I love you." I whispered as he started kissing down my neck, pushing my tank top up my stomach. His warm hands stroking my stomach.

"I love you so much." He groaned as he bit at my neck, pushing at my shorts. "You're so amazing." I whimpered when he started to press himself against me, feeling how much he wanted me. "Do you want it?" He asked and he knew this was something that turned me on. Maybe it was a sexual assault victim thing, but I found it to be so sexy when Jake asked for my consent. I don't know why, but fuck, it was hot!

"Yes, please, Jake." He groaned before he sat back on his knees and started to pull my shorts down the rest of the way.

It was official, I was sure we were cursed. First, Quil didn't want to leave us alone, and now this.

The garage door started to shake which told us someone was trying to get in.

"Bella? Jake? You two in there?" I cursed under my breath at Charlie's voice before Jake pushed my shorts backup my waist.

"Yeah, we are here. Hold on a sec. I'll open the door." Jake called out before we both stood up and I watched with lustful eyes as he stuck his hand down his pants and adjusted himself.

The one time I end up coming up to Forks with Charlie just had to be the one time someone actually interrupted us and that someone had to be Charlie.

I gave him a passionate kiss before I released him. I fixed my shirt again before I sat back down on the couch and Jake unlocked the door, pushing it open.

"Sorry about that, Charlie. We were just-" Jake tried to dish out an excuse for the door being locked because, as far as we knew, Charlie and Billy had no idea that we had been actually locking ourselves in here for privacy.

"Please, Jacob, just don't. I don't need any explanation." Jake snickered at this before Charlie looked to me with a sigh. "Time to go, kiddo." This saddened me, but I nodded anyways.

"Sure, dad. I'll be there in a minute." Charlie knew this was a ritual for anytime I had to get a ride home, like if the truck was having issues, then it would be left with Jake to fix, that I would need a few minutes with Jake to say goodbye.

He left and Jake came back to me, putting his arms around me.

"Do you have to go? We only got ten minutes alone together." It was so cute when he whined like that. I snickered before I pulled back, looking up at his face.

"Yeah, I do, but Charlie has to leave for Mason County for some case they have out there and need his expertise which means that I will have the house all to myself this evening. So I can come back or you can come to my house." He got the devious look in his eyes that I knew and loved before he kissed me passionately. It was this look he gave that told me that he absolutely loved the idea and that it sent his mind on horny teenager mode.

"Call me when he leaves and I'll come over. We can spend all evening making love and in an actual bed for once." I blushed at this offer. We never got to have sex in a real bed except for the first couple of times. We basically had sex where we could and when we could. During our alone time in the garage, we would have sex on the couch, on the Rabbit, in the Rabbit, or Jake would pull out this small air mattress in the garage and we would fuck on that. If we actually had some time where Billy wasn't at home, we knew that Jake's room would be the place investigated for the sex smell and used condoms so we got pretty creative with the places we would have sex. The laundry room, the bathroom, the living room, kitchen, dining room….pretty much anywhere other than Billy's room because that was just gross and Jake's room.

We were also constantly using the air freshener in the house which Billy had started to notice so I started to keep little things of it in my backpack for those occasions we had sex in the house.

"A real bed? Oh, my god! The horror!" I teased him and he laughed at the joke.

"I love you, honey, and I'll see you in a bit." I gave my own little retort before I kissed him goodbye and left with Charlie.

I was pretty sure that Charlie was in denial that Jake and I were in the part of our relationship where we were having sex or he just wanted to delude himself into thinking we were waiting for marriage because he never brought up the sex talk again after Jake and I got together, for real. I was completely confident that Charlie loved that Jake and I were in love and happy together. It was like his dream came true when I became smittened with Billy's son. Maybe him and Billy had some fantasy about how they would be family one day and me and Jake getting together gave some solidity to this. I don't know, but he was always supportive of Jake and I going out and doing things together no matter how weird it sounded. If I asked him if I could go with Jake to the scrap yard to get a part for some car he was fixing, he wouldn't think twice about it even though he knew how clumsy I was.

When it came to anyone else, he got suspicious. It was like Jake had some spell over him.

I didn't care though. All I cared about was getting to spend time with my amazing, wonderful, loving boyfriend that I was positive I was irrevocably in love with.

I got home and waited for Charlie to say his goodbyes before I gave Jake the go-ahead to come over. As soon as I did this, a plan was concocted in my mind.

A week ago, I had dragged Angela with me for her personal opinion on different outfits to try out for Jake's surprise. I never saw myself as sexy, but Jake did and he made me feel very attractive like a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model when I knew I was anything but that.

Angela and I had picked out a few things in an array of Jake's favorite colors, but there was one that I was sure would catch his attention that I just had to have in black. In actuality, it was just a very long strap of black, cotton fabric, but it was also a dress. It was a little complicated to put on, but I knew the look on his face when he saw me would be well worth the pain of getting it on.

I showered quickly, dried off, applied the edible strawberry lotion that Angela had urged me to get, then I dressed in only that lingerie dress.

I would definitely never go out in public like this with so much skin showing. I wrapped the strap around me from right below my ass to right above my nipples, leaving very little to imagination. So much skin was showing between the straps that I was sure Jake would have to do a double take when he saw me.

I heard him knock on the front door and I shrieked with delight. I couldn't wait to see his reaction to this dress. He was sure to love it!

I ran down the stairs and took a deep breath before barely cracking up the door for him to come in so no one outside could possibly see me like that. He chuckled and moved into the house, shaking his head, before his eyes landed on me, leaned against the wall behind the door. He gasped as his eyes roamed over me and dropped his phone and wallet out of his hand, clinking with the tile. I bit my lip and smirked.

"Hey." I grabbed him and pulled him to me before I started passionately kissing him. His hands instantly roamed all over my body, teasing the straps of cloth, and groaned aloud into my mouth.

"Fuck, you look so hot." I smirked against his mouth before I turned us around and pressed him against the wall. I'm sure he could see the arousal and mischief in my eyes as I moved to my knees in front of him, instantly going for his belt in search of his family jewels. I noticed his breathing pick up as he watched me rip open his pants and pull them to his knees before running my tongue from the base of his erection to his tip, taking all of him in, slipping him down my throat.

During our relationship, I had worked on my gag reflex until it was non-existent and he loved it when I gave him head even more.

He groaned aloud as I deep throated his hot, hard cock, moaning on him.

"Shit, Bells. I love that mouth of yours." I whimpered as I pulled him out of my mouth, running my tongue all over him.

"Will you let me make you cum with this mouth of mine?" He grunted when I asked this of him before kissing along the length of that amazing appendage of his. "I'll get you hard again afterwards, but I really _need_ to have my face fucked." He groaned when I said this before taking him back into my mouth, down my throat. I gulped around him a few times while quickly bobbing my head up and down his tasty dick.

"Shit, baby." He spilled out before I took him out of my mouth again before sucking on that delicious mushroom top.

"I need your cum, Jake. Please, don't deny me it." He groaned aloud and his hands moved into my hair.

"Open wide, babygirl." I loved it when he called me that. It felt like, by begging him to give me what I wanted, I was pleasing him and not by anything I was doing, but by what I was saying.

"Yes, yes." I opened my mouth nice and big for him and he slipped himself completely in. His pubes tickled my nose, but I was focused on what he was doing in my mouth. He gripped my hair tight as he started thrusting into my mouth, his head thrown back.

"Shit, that's my girl. Uh, take it all in there. Guh, I love that talented little mouth of yours." My hands laid on his thighs as I enjoyed how wonderful it felt for him to be pounding into my mouth like a damn pro.

* * *

Life just about sucked absolutely ass for me now. I thought my life wasn't so great before, but now it was just the worst it could get.

The one truly amazing part of my life I had ever had was ripped away from me. My Angela. She had been everything to me. From the moment I had first laid eyes on her, I was hooked and I never turned back. I just wanted her and I was a lucky enough bastard to get her. She loved me just as much as I loved her. We didn't get to see each other as much as we wanted to, but our relationship was strong enough to live through the little amount of time we got together.

I was happy and everything was great until Bella screwed everything up! Don't get me wrong. Bella was an awesome friend and a great girl, but she had jumped to conclusions about what was happening at that party and that lead to the ripple effect of my life being turned upside down.

Angela broke up with me and, in hindsight, I understood why she did. She thought Jake had openly cheated on Bella and I supported this happening. One, Jake loved Bella and would never have done something so stupid when he was supposed to be on a date with her. Two, I was known among my few friends for always standing up for my thoughts when needed and, if Jake had screwed around on Bella, I would have ripped him a new one _and_ I would have told Bella instead of waiting for her to see it.

After that, I wasn't too terribly upset because I knew Angela's allegations weren't true and, once she realized this, we would get back together as if nothing had happened. I wouldn't have held it together.

Then, I was met by Paul _fucking_ Lahote as I was walking home. I always hated him. He was so disrespectful to everyone, he boozed, and he fucked around with too many girls. Then, he had the nerve to scare off any outsiders that came onto the reservation, this included my Angela, but Angela wasn't scared of him.

Paul pushed every damn button he could to push me because he wanted to fuck with me. He talked about Jake, Quil, and Bella which was bad enough, but when he bad mouthed Angela, I was pissed and it was on. I hit him which broke my hand then what I thought was impossible happened. I shifted into a large, dark grey wolf with a tan face. I couldn't believe what was happening to me and neither could Paul who I found out was just like me.

Sam's whole gang was like me, a shapeshifter, which they didn't understand. Being a wolf was from genetics, plain and simple, and my mom wasn't Quileute. That's why I was an oddball on the reservation growing up. She had come from the Makah reservation. I was under the impression that she moved to La Push right after she found out she was pregnant with me and that's what everyone else thought, but that mustn't have been true because I wouldn't have phased if my deadbeat father was from the Makah reservation.

All of the wolves had discussed the truth of my paternity and only three names came up that were the right age to have been my father. There was Jake's dad, Billy, Sam's dad, Josh, and Quil's dad.

Sure, it would have been cool if one of my best friends were also my brother, but that would have also meant that I was conceived through infidelity which would just make me feel like shit so I chose to believe that Joshua Uley had to be my father because he was a goddamn drifter and womanizer. He had abandoned Sam and his mom, Allison, when Sam was still a toddler because he couldn't handle being a dad.

Plus, it would really suck if I found out if my father was dead and that would be if Quil was my brother.

The next kick to the nuts I received was being told I couldn't have anything to do with Angela for a bare minimum of two months. No calls, no texts, no visits, nada. I had to abandon her for her own safety when I could barely handle not just telling her that I loved her for three hours.

It was really hard, but I had been ordered to do it. When Sam ordered me, given he was the active Alpha, I couldn't go against it. There were days when I would stay phased just trying with all my might to fight it, but in the end, I conceded and went home.

My home life wasn't much better. Since my mom wasn't on the council, she couldn't know what I was so she had no idea why I skipping school, why I was gone at all hours, or why I even had the tribal tattoo on my arm. So I was constantly grounded which didn't matter. I could easily jump from my bedroom window and get back in without her knowing I had ever left.

It was an intense, long struggle, but I got myself under control and after I was able to keep from phasing in the most angering situation.

But, they still didn't want me to see her. I had agreed that keeping my distance was a good thing. She had probably already moved on and all I would do is dredge up ancient history by contacting her now. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Angela or make things awkward for her.

I would have been happy for her if she found someone else, no matter how much it hurt that she didn't want me anymore. I would always love Angela. She was my first love and we had a long, beautiful relationship if you look at other high school romances. Most didn't last more than six months and that's if you were truly compatible. It was hard to date in high school for long term and even harder if you don't go to school with the person.

So, I kept my distance and the thought of imprinting loomed over my head. It hurt my heart every single day I was away from Angela and the only thought that made it easier was that I might imprint and the ache would go away. I would still love Angela if I imprinted, but it wouldn't hurt so much. My main focus would be my imprint, whoever that would be. I liked to fantasize that maybe it would be Angela and then I could tell her everything, but then Lahote would rear his ugly head into my fantasy and say 'no one imprints on who they have been dating, what makes you think you would be the first'. I was usually the most level headed of the pack, but when it came to Angela, I was easily riled up.

The next month was hard. We had a pack meeting concerning Jake, my best friend in the world. I was so sad to find out that he would deal with the same fate as I had. He was showing the signs and his transformation was approaching much faster than mine or any of the pack's did. He started putting on a lot of muscles right after Bella came to town, but I thought maybe it was because he was working in the garage so much. Sadly, that was not the reason. His body was prepping for his transformation.

The saddest part of it all was Bella. Everyone could tell they were smitten and absolutely perfect for each other, but very few actually got to spend enough time with them together to know how deep their love ran. It was sickening to those who didn't understand it.

I always thought Jake was a happy kid before, but boy, I didn't know he could get any happier until he met Bella. She made him light on his feet. He laughed, smiled almost non-stop, and was constantly whistling to himself. I hated that this would be taken from him by this stupid genetic curse. It was Bella I was most worried about, though. She had been through absolute hell when they had a month of separation and that was her choice. This would be completely out of her control. I worried about her emotional wellbeing for when he phased.

Tonight, though, I am on Jake duty.

Anytime someone the pack knows is about to phase, a pack member always guards them and Jake was everyone's least favorite to guard.

I bet you are wondering why he is the worst. Well, this is exactly why, what was happening inside the Swan house.

I didn't need to see. I could hear the crashing of bodies against the wall, the stumbling of feet, and incessant moans filling the air.

I was just laying in the wood outside Bella's house and I could see from where I was as Jake and Bella came crashing through the bedroom door, clinging to each other. He kicked the door shut before moving them to the bed where Bella quickly straddled him, pushing him down onto the bed.

I wondered to myself for moment if Angela and I were like that. Did we ever just go crazy with lust for each other? Then, I recalled a few times where she did attack me once we were alone. You would have thought I had sexually tortured her for days, leaving her begging for it. I loved seeing Angela like that. She was just so sexy and only showed that side with me. Or at least until I phased.

I hated to think about that, but since I was the only one phased, at least no one else would see what I had. I whined from the emotional pain it inflicted on me.

I had been on patrol earlier and was headed home when I heard a conversation between Angela and Quil, in the woods of all places.

" _You can't be serious," Quil asked baffled as I heard the conversation and looked to see them standing in a clearing with her looking disturbed by whatever was going on in her head._

" _I am serious. Trust me. You're not exactly my first choice of asking this, but you are the only one I know that wouldn't ask more from it." I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but I kept listening. This was the closest I had let myself get to Angela since I phased and I really didn't want to leave yet. She was just so beautiful and I missed her so much._

" _Why? Give me an honest answer. You hate me, you have made no secret of that, and there are plenty of other guys that would be willing to have sex with you." WHAT! Angela was begging Quil to fuck her?! "You're gorgeous, Ang. Why are you coming to me about this?" Tears filled her eyes and I watched them slip past her glasses._

" _Because Embry left me!" My heart ached at hearing the pain in her voice. "He didn't want me anymore and didn't even have to decency to tell me to my face or over the phone or through a damn note. He just ghosted me and has pretended that we, our relationship, never fucking existed. I've tried being patient and tried waiting for him, but it's killing me! I have to accept that he doesn't want me anymore and that he's never going to want me again! I've gone three months without and I'm so overly frustrated and I don't want to have sex with someone who is going to expect more out of it. I can't even think of dating someone else right now so please don't make me beg._

" _Right now, I don't care that I don't like you. I just need_ _ **something**_ _to take away this hurt for the briefest of moments and sex seems to be the only thing that will do it so please don't make me beg and don't turn me down, Quil." It killed me to hear my ex-girlfriend pleading to one of my best friends in the whole world for sex. It was disturbing and hurt._

 _I watched as slowly walked over to her, wiped the tears from her sweet, olive skin, then kissed her._

" _Okay. Let's do it." I couldn't watch past that. It was too much, but as I walked away, I could hear Angela's moaning and Quil's grunting in the distance. I walked home with tears down my face and an ache in my heart._

I wanted to go see Angela so bad after that, but Sam had stopped me. I hid from him why I needed to, but he could still tell I was upset and ordered me home. He said that seeing her when I was upset was very bad and that I might hurt her or do something I'd regret. Then, I was sent on Jake duty and this was only making it worse.

I looked up to see Jake pulling out a condom and Bella took it from him. She ripped open the package and I didn't see much after that. With them both moving around, I didn't see her put the condom on him, thank god, or him go inside her.

She arched her body before I saw her body bobbing on him, moaning and screaming for more.

This was something the whole pack had seen more times than any of us wanted to admit. Jared had said a few times that he didn't mind too much, that he thought Bella was smoking hot, and that it was a good addition to his spank bank. I had sure to warn him every time he thought about it that, if he thought of this when Jake phased, Jake would kill him.

Jake didn't let it show very much, but he was very possessive and jealous when it came to Bella. I'll admit that she's a pretty girl, but she wasn't my type. I never even thought of looking at her like that. Since Jake was the closest thing I ever had to a brother, it was like Bella was a sister to me and she was Angela's best friend.

No, even if I wasn't still in love with Angela, I would never, ever look at Bella like that or fantasize about her.

While they were busy, knowing from past experience that they would be at it for a while and there was no way he would phase while having sex, I decided to walk through the brush over to Angela's house. I could see from the trees that Angela was walking around her room, brushing her fingers through her long curls after a shower. She was dressed in her normal pajama pants and tank top, humming softly to herself.

 _God, I miss you, baby._ I thought as I watched her go over to her bed and pick up the picture on her bedside table of me and her, staring at it for what seemed like forever. After a while, she sighed and sat it back down.

"What is wrong with me?" I heard her whispered to herself and I watched as tears filled her eyes. "Why can't I get over you?" That right there was confirmation.

She still loved me! After three months, she still loved me!

I couldn't hold back anymore and I phased back, pulling on the shorts I had tied around my ankle. I walked over to the side of the house and looked around for something to get her attention. I found a small pebble and, gently for a wolf, I flung it at her window. It made a clink noise and I waited for her to open it. I heard the window unlock and my nerves got shot. Part of me thought I should run away like a scared little boy, but the rest of me knew that we both needed to see each other.

The window slid open and she slipped her head out, our gazes meeting. I watched her gasp as my vision blurred and I felt it happen.

Images flowed through my head of us, a glorious future together, our children, us getting married, growing old with her by my side, and dying after a long happy life with her, my Angela, my imprint.

"Embry?" I smirked at her with relief.

It was right in front of me all along, the solution. My sweet, beautiful Angela was my imprint! My need to be with her should have been enough to tell me. My wolf already knew and I didn't see it. I was lucky enough not to be a guy that had to go through a couple relationships before finding my soulmate. My first love, my Angela, was my soulmate, my one and only.

"Move back. I'm coming up." I quickly climbed the tree next to her window and jumped in, seeing the shock on her face that she tried to hide with irritation. I knew that wasn't true. I could feel it through our bond. She was excited to see me.

"What are you doing here?" I quickly moved to her, pulled her into my arms, and kissed her with everything in me. Her hands clutched to my face as I passionately kissed her.

"I love you." I said before kissing her again. "So fucking much." Then, I kissed her again and she relaxed into me and embraced what I was giving her.

"Oh, Embry."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey everyone. I know I said I wasn't going to post anything until a story was complete, but I felt terrible leaving you guys hanging so I'm gonna update as much as I can as often as I can. I am currently working on chapter twenty of this story so I'll post another chapter tomorrow hopefully.**

 **Enjoy and let me know what you think.**

* * *

 **In My Heart**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

My senses were alight from how amazing that was, us making love like we did. Every single touch was driving me crazy and he couldn't keep his hands off of me.

Jake's hands roamed all over my hips and my legs, squeezing me in all the right places. I whimpered as he continued to kiss me so sweetly, repeatedly.

I loved it when we had time together like this, no one around and completely alone. His mouth moved down my neck as I softly whimpered.

"Jake." I moaned his name and he moved his body back over mine, his hand moving around to my ass. He squeezed it so hard, but I was pretty sure my body couldn't handle going at it again. We had been at it for hours with very little breaks.

In a flash, his mouth suddenly felt hot and his hands were almost too warm to handle on my body.

"Jake?" I ran my fingers through his hair as he groaned, not responding. He yanked my hips towards his roughly and I yelped. What the hell was going on with him? "Jake!" Finally, he snapped out of it and pulled back, holding himself over me.

"What?" It came out almost like a growl, but I ignored the irritated tone he used. I rubbed my hands over his cheeks as I stared into his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked, but the annoyed look on his face didn't go away. His skin seemed to feel hotter.

"I'm fine." He went back to try and finish where he left off, but I pulled back.

"No, you're not. You have a fever." I rubbed my hands over his cheeks and he groaned irritated again.

"I am perfectly fine. Are we going to have sex or are you going to keep pushing this? If you are, I'll just go home." He flipped himself off of me and shock filled me. Did he just seriously say that to me? What the hell was wrong with him?

Tears filled my eyes as I sat up, holding the blanket to my chest. How could he think that saying something like that to me was acceptable? Did he suddenly lose all respect for me?

Everything had been fine, but then he did that, said something so cold. Was it such a terrible thing that I was worried about him?

I felt his hand on my back and I flinched away, circling my arms around my chest. My eyes moved to the window to avoid looking at him.

"God, what now?" He groaned and the floodgates opened up. I sobbed heavily and heard him gasp. "Hey, baby. What's the matter?" I shook my head as I felt him try to put his arms around me. I quickly pushed his hand away.

"You are such a fucking asshole." I quickly jumped up and grabbed a pair of pajamas from my laundry basket before leaving my room, tears flowing like a river down my face. I put on my pajamas as I walked down the hall and I jogged down the stairs, going to the kitchen.

It might have seemed childish on the outside, but it didn't matter to me. I needed space from him and it seemed best to do it when I could feel a sliver of comfort.

I sat in the corner against the wall between the kitchen and the laundry room, my legs pulled up to my chest. I buried my face into my knees and continued to cry my heart out.

Why would he say something like that to me or be so callous like that? We had been through so much together and our love for the most part had been amazing, nearly flawless even. We practically never fought or disagreed about anything. If he disagreed with anything I ever said, he never said anything about it to me.

Maybe he only came to my house for sex and not for alone time? No, that was crazy, but he did say if we weren't having sex that he was going home.

Was I asking too much by questioning his health? No, that was ridiculous! What girlfriend in their right mind wouldn't care if their boyfriend was sick? One who just didn't care about their boyfriend and I loved Jake with my whole heart.

"Bells?" I heard his voice and it cut into my heart, making me cry even harder. My pajamas pants were pretty soaked from me crying already.

"Go away." I just wanted to be left alone. Was that asking too much? I don't think it was.

"Baby, I-" I felt his hand on my leg and that was it. I couldn't handle him touching me.

"Get out!" I yelled at him before meeting his sad eyes. He was giving me a look like I was the one betraying him by asking this of him. Well, I wasn't really asking, more demanding. "Leave and go home!" I cried out before burying my face back in my knees.

I really thought I knew Jake, but the Jake I knew wouldn't have given up so easily.

* * *

I worked part time at a novelty store right outside of town. It was called Fad Inc. It had anything you could ask for concerning different fandoms, but the biggest sections were Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. I wasn't sure why this place wasn't out in Port Angeles considering it would get a lot more business there, but it got enough customers here. The business stayed afloat.

I was restocking the Lion King bags as my coworker, Selena, stood by me doing her own restocking of the other Disney movie memorabilia.

"Are you feeling alright, Isa?" I had told her a number of times to call me Bella, but she liked calling me this more. She said she thought it fit me better. Not sure why.

"I'm fine." I focused on hooking up the bags on the bar.

"Really? I doubt those bags did anything to you." I looked to my hand and saw that I was scrunching them up. I cursed under my breath before trying to straighten them out, rubbing the wrinkles out of them.

"Oh, God. Sorry." She shook her head understandingly as I put them on the rack.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked as I grabbed a few bags more carefully.

"I just had a fight with my boyfriend last night. I'm pretty sure we broke up." I wasn't really sure if we were still together or not. I did throw him out of my house and he didn't fight it.

"Come on. It can't be that bad." I grimaced a little as I paused.

"I kicked him out of my house." She gasped when I said this. I was pretty soft-spoken at work so I wasn't surprised that this shocked her.

"Oh, wow. What was the fight about?" I just shrugged as I continued stocking.

"You don't want to know. He just said something really cold and it really upset me so I kicked him out." This she seemed to understand more.

"That's just a disagreement. I'm sure you can work through it." I wasn't sure I agreed with her. What Jake had said was really hurtful and unlike the Jake I knew.

The front door chimed, letting us know a new customer had arrived. We both looked because our boss, Mr. Crowley, always wanted the customers to feel welcome. We always had to greet them when they walked in and ask if they needed help with anything.

I was a little surprised when I looked to see Jake walk in. He knew that I worked here, but he never came to even just say hi during my shifts. What the hell was he doing here?

"That's him." I whispered and Selena's eyes widened at this before I noticed her look him up and down like she was sizing him up. That just made me uncomfortable.

"You are one lucky girl. That boy is gorgeous. I usually only thinks guys are attractive if they have short hair, but he's still hot." I didn't like hearing other girls talking about how attractive Jake was, but Selena didn't know me well enough to know this. I knew how hot Jake was. I didn't need anyone telling me how attractive he was.

"I know." I looked again and his eyes met mine before he started approaching us. "Fuck, just what I need." I whispered under my breath as I saw Mr. Crowley approach Jake. They exchanged a few words before Jake made his way over to me.

"Bella." I started putting up the Lion King bags again, making sure to straighten up the straps.

"What are you doing here, Jake? I'm working." He seemed unfazed by this. I was trying not to pay attention to him much. I knew Mr. Crowley wouldn't like me socializing at work, but at least if I was still working, I could still be productive.

"We need to talk about last night." I figured that might be why he was there. Did he want to officially break it off with me? If he planned to do that in public, at my work no less, I would lose all respect for him.

"I can't. I'm working and you'll get me in trouble with my boss." I finished stocking the Lion King bags and collapsed the box before setting it on the stool next to me, moving to the box of Tinkerbell makeup bags. I moved over to the table holding them and cut open the box before kneeling in front of it. Jake followed me the whole way.

"I don't want to get you in trouble." He knelt down in front of me and I looked into his eyes. He looked like hell, like he had another sleepless night. Was his dream bothering him still?

"Then, you shouldn't be here." I bowed my head, looking back at the box, as I pulled out the bags, setting them on the floor beside me.

"I had to see you." His voice sounded defeated, but I refused to look at him. I continued to unload the makeup bags. "I'm so sorry...for what I said last night. I was a complete jerk. I shouldn't have said that and I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean it how it sounded." That just didn't make sense. How he could not mean it like that? It seemed pretty clear that he didn't want to be there if we weren't having sex.

"Please, look at me." He placed his hand over mine and I frowned at him. His eyes showed how sorry he was, but it still didn't make sense.

"I can handle the truth, but I can't handle being lied to." I whispered to him and he held tight onto my hand.

"I'm not lying, I swear. My dad has been up my ass constantly about how he thinks I'm running a fever and how he thinks I shouldn't be around anyone if I'm sick. The more he says it, it just pisses me off because the last thing I want is to have to distance myself from you. I've had to do time without you before and it was horrible, Bells. I don't feel sick at all, I swear. I feel fine. I've been getting pissed off a lot lately and that's the only way I feel any different and I can't control it.

"Then, you asked me about having a fever and it just got under my skin. That's all I meant by that. I just didn't want to be pushed about it. I wasn't thinking about how it would sound to you once it came out. I never, ever want to hurt you like that. I love you, Bella." His voice got pleading. My gut was telling me he was telling the truth, but something inside me wasn't sure if I should believe him. Yeah, it made sense, but what if it wasn't true?

"Miss Swan, you know my rule about socializing while clocked in." I looked up and saw Mr. Crowley had just come over, but luckily, he obviously didn't hear what Jake had been saying to me.

"Sorry, Mr. Crowley." I said as I put up all the makeup bags in a perfect rows with Jake standing up.

"Sorry, sir. Bella was just helping me." He was covering for me? That was a very Jake thing to do. Well, he was the one getting me in trouble.

"Is that so?" Mr. Crowley asked as I stood up and Jake looked to me with pleading eyes.

"He was just wondering about the Gone With The Wind novelty items we have." I knew this was the perfect place to go. This was the only fandom of which we seriously lacked stock and that a lot of people asked about. Mr. Crowley had been talking about upgrading his stock, but had yet to bring any in.

"Oh! Well, then, we should be getting a new shipment in soon…." I stopped listening to whatever Mr. Crowley was telling Jake and went about doing my job.

Jake was gone by the time I finished stocking up, but he didn't leave my mind. Through my whole shift, he occupied my thoughts.

I went over everything he said when he came to my work and, by the time my shift was over, I was anxious to talk to him and fix things.

I jumped into my truck and drove to La Push, up the long dirt driveway of the Black house. I parked in front of the porch because I saw Billy sitting there all alone, looking sullen. I jumped out, tugging my jacket around my stomach, before I walked around to the steps.

"Billy?" I questioned him with his name and his eyes snapped up as if he didn't even heard me come up the driveway.

"Oh, hello, Bella. I didn't see you there. Are you here to see Jake?" I wasn't buying how he was trying to sweep it under the rug.

"Are you okay? You looked really sad and worried." He shook his head, but his eyes said otherwise. He was lying through his teeth, but he wanted to keep it to himself which I would allow him.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I narrowed my eyes at this. Jake was constantly worried about Billy and it gave him many sleepless nights. I could see it visibly aging him faster than was normal.

"There are plenty of things to worry about concerning you, Billy." He looked like he was taken aback by me saying this to him. It was true. Jake had way too much on his shoulders and I was done standing idly by doing nothing to ease the strain on my boyfriend's shoulders.

"What do you mean?" He asked and I groaned.

"Some may want to stay quiet about it, but I won't anymore. You are slowly killing yourself." He looked even more shocked.

"Wha-What?"

"You drink too much, you don't watch what you eat, and Jake practically has to hold you up all on his own. He keeps track of your meds, your doctors appointments, and many other things. He won't say it to you, but I will. You're not only killing yourself, but you're doing the same thing to him. He has already lost his mom, way sooner than anyone ever should have to. What do you think it will do to him when you pass away, especially if he feels it's something he could have prevented?" I noticed Billy pull back into his head as he contemplated everything I had said to him. He took a deep breath before he nodded.

"Thank you for speaking up, Bella. Not many are willing to talk about how they feel for fear of upsetting others. I didn't realize that my health was so upsetting to others." I nodded with a small smile.

"I've tried to get Jake to talk to you about it, but he wouldn't budge. He didn't think it would do any good." I shrugged a bit and he looked sadder.

"I know I seem a bit hard headed, but one thing I take very seriously is how much my son holds on his plate. He already deals with too much for such a young man to have to deal with. I'm glad he has you, Bella." His words squeezed at my heart and I gave him a hug before pulling away.

"Is he in the garage?" Billy nodded and I strolled over to the garage, finding Jake tweaking with some red and black motorcycle. It looked old, but could still be operable.

"Hey, Jake." I spoke up and his head snapped towards me, surprise clear in his eyes.

"Bells." He stood to his feet and wiped the grease off his hands with a dirty rag. He quickly raced over to me and took me in his arms, pulling me close in his embrace. "I'm so sorry, baby." I nodded as I wound my arms around his neck, holding myself flush to him. "Can you forgive me?" I nodded before I pulled back enough to be able to see his face.

"Just don't do that to me again, okay?" He nodded his confirmation then kissed me so sweetly.

"I swear, I will never hurt you again, I promise." I smirked when he said this and cuddled myself into his chest.

"You better keep that promise, chief." He chuckled and kissed the top of my head before I took a moment to change the subject, noticing something strange. "You know, if you get any taller, having sex and kissing will become very awkward." He laughed at my joke before giving me another kiss. It was no laughing matter. He had shot up like a damn beanpole. He went from only a couple inches taller than me to well over six feet tall in just shy of six months. I had never heard of a growth spurt like that.

"I think you just need to grow a few inches, babe. Are you sure you're not shrinking?" I jabbed him in the gut and he laughed.

All weird, awkwardness was gone and we were back to just being Jake and Bella.

 **I hope you liked it. Constructive criticism is welcome.**


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